A-T<7 



OUIi CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 



Founding of the Missions. 



SAN FRANCISCO DE ASSIS 

IN ITS HUNDREDTH YEAR. 



THE CELEBRATION OF ITS FOUNDATION. 



HISTORICAL REMINISCENCES 

OF THE-ivt ISSI o NS OF CALIFORNIA. 



I 
SAN FRANCISCO: A, 
Compiled, Peinted and Published by P?J. Tho^T 
No. 505 Clay Steeet, 

1877, 



* 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 18T7, by P. J. Thomas, 
the Office of the Libbaeian of Congbess, at Washington. 




Preface. 

In presenting this little volume to the public for 
their acceptance and approbation, the publisher 
does not think it necessary, or advisable, to trou- 
ble them with a lengthy preface. There are many 
reasons why a book like this, simple, unpretentious 
and purely historical in its character, should be 
laid before the citizens of San Francisco. They 
have but recently celebrated the hundredth anni- 
versary of the foundation of their beautiful and 
interesting city, and it seems but right that some 
more enduring and substantial record than the 
reports, however full and complete, of newspapers, 
which are of their very nature but the things of a 
day, should be made of an event of such importance. 
The object of the publisher, therefore, is to con- 
tribute his humble but sincere effort towards trans- 
mitting to posterity the record of the foundation 
of civilization on the shores of California. If his 
labor meets the approval of those who participated 
in it, he will be amply satisfied and he will not 
think his toil in vain. 



4 PREFACE. 

To give a concise narrative of the past; to depict 
in truthful colors the aims and objects of the 
devoted men who raised the banner of Christianity 
and of civilization where one of the greatest cities of 
the world is now established; to vindicate the char- 
acter of the zealous missionaries to whose earnest- 
ness in the cause of the Gospel San Francisco owes 
its origin — these are some of the motives which 
prompted the compilation of the volume now laid 
before the public. It may serve, also, to show to 
those who in the coming century shall help to raise 
upon these foundations the grand monuments 
of a peerless civilization, the self-sacrifice, the 
Christian fortitude, the heroic perseverance of 
those Catholic Friars who devoted life, energies, 
everything they possessed to the service of their 
Divine Master, who knew no earthly ambition, 
who thought not of fame, who not even dreamt of 
handing down their names to the men who in after 
years would reap the fruits of their incessant toil. 

Many efforts have been made by the noble and 
disinterested members of the Pioneer Associa- 
tion, by lectures, pamphlets, etc., to preserve the 
records of California's past ; but they, unhappily, 



PEEFACE. 

were not of an enduring character. The docu- 
ments remain in the libraries of the few — too few 
— who feel an interest in the story of the vicissi- 
tudes of the Golden City of the Pacific, and that 
is all. To do something towards dissipating this 
reprehensible and unpatriotic apathy, to construct 
some humble memorial of the past, is the most 
cherished desire of 

The Publishee. 



Historic Outlines. 



THE Missions of California are the landmarks of its 
civilization. The struggles of the early missionaries, 
against the most appalling obstacles, to plant the Cross 
in a wild and unknown country, are full of interest 
to those who have profited by their unexampled 
heroism. The Jesuits, the first missionaries who suc- 
ceeded in effecting a lodgment on the peninsula of 
California, after being expelled from Mexico in 1767, 
were succeeded by the Franciscans, at whose head 
Father Junipero Serra was placed as President of the 
Missions. Father Serra was a man* of remarkable 
sagacity, energy and patience. His aim was the occu- 
pation of the whole country from Sari Diego to Mon- 
terey, and then proceeding northward to discover the 
lost bay of San Francisco, where Vizcayno claimed to 
have anchored in 1602, although it has since been 
conclusively established that Point Reyes was the 
limit of his explorations. Father Junipero's expedi- 
tion was divided into two detachments, one of which 
started from Villacata by land, and the other from 
San Bias by sea. The march from Villacata, the 
frontier Mission of Lower California, occupied fifty- 
one days. When the explorers reached Point Pinos, 
they did not recognize the indentation of the coast as 



8 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

corresponding with Vizcayno's description, and there- 
fore determined to push farther northward. Accord- 
ing to the diary of Father Orespi, who accompanied 
the expedition, they halted at the point of land which 
shelters Half Moon Bay, now called Point Corral de 
Tierra, which they named Point Angel de Guarda. 
From here they sent out an exploring party, which 
returned at the end of three days, and reported that, 
on ascending the mountain range on their right, they 
had discovered an arm of the sea extending inward to 
the southeastward. From this elevation Point Keyes 
and the Farallones were visible. The entire expedi- 
tion, on leaving this point, started to the northeastward 
and continued in a course parallel to the bay, intending 
to pass around its head, and so reach Point Eeyes. 
They camped near the San Francisquito creek, at the 
place where is now the village of Searsville. But 
here, their supplies being exhausted, and several of the 
party having died from scurvy, they resolved to retrace 
their steps, although Governor Portola was disposed 
to push on. The homeward march was a distressing 
one. Their food consisted only of shellfish, acorns, 
pine-nuts, and the few wild birds they succeeded in 
shooting. On November 27th they arrived at Point 
Pinos, and remained there until December 9th, seek- 
ing in vain for the harbor of Monterey, which Viz- 
cayno had described. On December 9th, weary, sick 
and disheartened, they prepared to return to San 
Diego, having erected on the south side of Point Pinos 
a large wooden cross bearing the following inscrip- 
tion: " Dig at the foot of this and you will find a 



HISTOKIC OUTLINES. \) 

writing/' At its foot they buried a brief account of 
their journey. 

Father Crespi made a copy of the manuscript in his 
diary, as follows: 

"The overland expedition, which left San Diego 
on the 14th of July, under the command of Don 
G-aspar Portola, Governor of California, reached 
the channel of Santa Barbara on the 9th of 
August, and passed Point Concepcion on the 27th 
of the same month. It arrived at the Sierra de 
Santa Lucia on the 13th of September, entered 
that range of mountains on the 17th of the same 
month, and emerged from it on the 11th of October* 
on the same day caught sight of Point Pinos and 
the harbors on its north and south sides, without 
discovering any indications or landmarks of the bay of 
Monterey; determined to push on further in search 
of it, on the 30th of October got sight of Point 
Keyes and the Farallones, off the bay of San Francisco, 
which are seven in number. The expedition strove 
to reach Point Reyes, but was hindered by an immense 
arm of the sea, which, extending to a great distance 
inland, compelled them to make an enormous circuit 
for that purpose. In consequence of this and other 
difficulties, the greatest of all being the absolute want 
of food, the expedition, was compelled to turn back, 
believing that they must have passed the harbor of 
Monterey without discovering it ; started on return 
from the bay of San Francisco on the 11th of Novem- 
ber; passed Point Alio Nuevo on the 19th, and reached 
1* 



10 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

this point and harbor of Pinos on the 27th of the 
same month. From that date until the present, 9th of 
December, we have used every effort to find the bay 
of Monterey, searching the coast, notwithstanding its 
ruggedness, far and wide; but in vain. At last, unde- 
ceived, and despairing of finding it after so many 
efforts, sufferings and labor, and having left, of all 
our provisions, but fourteen small sacks of flour, we 
leave this place to-day for San Diego. I beg of 
Almighty God to guide us, and for you, traveller, who 
may read this, that He may guide you also to the 
harbor of eternal salvation. 

" Done in this harbor of Pinos, the 9th of December, 
1769. 

"Note. — That Don Michael Constanzo, the engi- 
neer, observed the latitude of various places on the 
coast, and the same are as follows: 

" San Diego, at the camp occupied by the overland 
expedition, 32° 42'. 

"The Indian Village, at the east end of the channel 
of Santa Barbara, 34° 13'. 

" Point Concepcion, 34° 30'. 

" The southern foot of the Sierra de Santa Lucia, 
35° 45'. 

'* The northern extremity in this harbor and Point 
Pinos, 36° 36'. 

" Point Arlo Nuevo, which iias low reefs of rocks, 
36° 04'. 

" The land near the harbor of San Francisco, hav- 
ing the Farallones on the west, quartering north, 
37° 35'. 



HISTORIC OUTLINES. 11 

" Point Reyes, wliich we discovered on the west, 
northeast from the same place, supposed to be 37° 44'. 

" If the commanders of the schooners, either the 
San Jose or the Principe, should reach this place within 
a few days after date, on learning the contents of this 
writing and of the distressed condition of this expe- 
dition, we beseech them to follow the coast down 
closely towards San Diego, so that if we should be 
happy enough to catch sight of them we may be able 
to apprise them, by signals, flags and firearms, of the 
place in which succor and provisions may reach us." 

" Glory be to God," he adds, " the cross was erected 
on a little hillock close to the beach of the small 
harbor on the south side of Point Pinos, and at its 
foot we buried the letter." 

Another cross was erected on the opposite side of 
the Point, with the inscription: " The overland expe- 
dition from San Diego returned from this place on the 
9th of December, 1769, starving." 

But the schooners never brought any succor to the 
expedition; for, after beating up to the latitude of 
Monterey, they were compelled to return to Santa 
Barbara for water, and indeed only arrived at San 
Diego in time to relieve the distress of the inhabitants, 
who were almost starving. The expedition, after 
encountering almost incredible hardships and losing 
many of its number, at last reached San Diego, the 
port they had started from months before. 

They found that the provisions on hand were suf- 
ficient only for two or three weeks at the furthest, and 
the settlement was wholly dependent on the arrival of a «* 



12 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

vessel, which was expected from the coast of New Spain 
with provisions. The Governor, believing that the ves- 
sel had foundered, as she was out more than double the 
time usually consumed during the passage, declared 
that unless she appeared by the 20th of March, the 
Feast of St. Joseph, he would abandon the country 
and return to Old California. The missionaries were 
very reluctant to depart, and prayed earnestly that the 
long- looked for vessel might be guided safely to port. 
On the nineteenth of March the San Antonio hove in 
sight, with a large cargo of provisions. Arrangements 
were made immediately for a new expedition to the 
port of Monterey. Like the former one it was divided 
into two parts, one to proceed by sea and the other by 
land. They started about the middle of April, and 
arrived at their destination late in May. 

Father Junipero Serra writes about the expedition 
as follows to his friend, Father Palou: 

' ' My Dearest Friend : — On the thirty-first day of 
May, by the favor of God, after rather a painful voy- 
age of a month and a half, the packet San Antonio, 
commanded by Don Juan Perez, arrived and an- 
chored in this port of Monterey, which is unaltered in 
any degree from what it was when visited by the expe- 
dition of Don Sebastian Vizcayno, in the year 1602. 
It gave me great consolation to find that the land ex- 
pedition had arrived eight days before us, and that 
Father Crespi and all the others were in good health. 
On the third of June, being the Holy Day of Pente- 
cost, all the naval and military officers and the people 
assembled on a bank at the foot of an oak, where we 



HISTORIC OUTLINES. 



13 



caused an altar to be ereeted and the bells to be rung. 
We then chanted the Veni Creator, blessed the water* 
erected and blessed a grand cross, hoisted the royal 
standard and sang the first mass that ever was cele- 
brated in this place. We afterwards sang the Salve 
Regina before an image of the Virgin, and concluded 
the whole with a Te Deum. After this the officers 
took possession of the country in the name of the 
King. We then all dined together in a shady place 
on the. beach/' etc. 

The volleys of musketry which celebrated the 
establishment of the Mission so alarmed the Indians 
that they withdrew and hid themselves in the moun- 
tains. After, several months Father Serra began to 
make converts, and on December 26th the first solemn 
baptfsm was performed at the Mission of Monterey. 

Father Serra, after an examination of the country 
in the vicinity of the port, forwarded* an account of 
his explorations to Mexico, and demanded from the 
ecclesiastical authorities an additional force of clergy. 
Thirty religious embarked at San Bias in the San Anto- 
nio and San Carlos, in January and February, 1771. 
When they arrived at Monterey, Father Serra offered 
up a solemn High Mass in gratitude to God for this 
fortunate assistance in the work of planting the Cross. 
The next Mission established by Father Serra was 
dedicated to Saint Antony of Padua, in the mountains 
of Santa Lucia. On his return to Monterey the 
Father changed the site of the San Carlos Mission. 
He sent orders to Fathers Cambon and Somera to 
establish a Mission to the north of San Diego, and 



14 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

name it in honor of San Gabriel. Those religious 
were threatened by the Indians; but, on exhibiting a 
banner with the image of Our Lady of Dolores upon 
it, the savages subsided and threw away their arms. 
The following letter written by Father Serra will ex- 
plain the progress the Missions had made at that 
date : 

" Mission of San Carlos, Monterey, 
" August 18, 1772. 

" Dear Friend: — Thanks be to God, I am in good 
health, and suffer little from want. There is no fear 
of being obliged to abandon any of the Missions now 
established. The milk of the cows and the garden 
vegetables have been the great sources of subsistence'. 
These, however, now begin to grow scarce. But of 
this I do not complain, but rather that we have not 
been able to go on with new Missions. All of us feel 
the vexatious troubles and obstacles which we have to 
encounter, yet no one thinks of leaving the Mission. 
Our greatest consolation is the knowledge that from 
Monterey, San Antonio and San Diego, there are 
numerous souls in heaven. From San Gabriel there 
are none yet; but among those Indians there are many 
who praise God, and His holy name is in their 
mouths more frequently than in those of many old 
Christians. There are, however, those who think that 
from lambs they will become tigers. This may be so, 
if God permits it; but after three years' experience 
with those of Monterey and two with those of San 
Antonio, they appear better every day. If all are not 



HISTOEIC OUTLINES. 15 

already Christians, it is, in my opinion, only owing to 
our unacquaintance with the language. This is a 
trouble which is not new to me, and I have always 
imagined that my sins have not permitted me to 
possess this faculty of learning strange tongues, 
which is a great misfortune in a country like this, 
where no interpreter or master of languages can be had 
until some of the natives learn Spanish, which requires 
a long time. At San Diego they have already over- 
come this difficulty. They now baptize adults and 
celebrate marriages, and we are here approximating to 
the same point. We have begun to explain to the 
youth in Spanish; and if they could return us a little 
assistance in another way, we should in a short time 
care little about the arrival of the vessels, so far as 
respects provisions. But, as affairs stand at present, 
the impious cannot much advance. Upon the whole 
I confide in God, who must remedy all.*' 

He then goes on to solicit an additional number of 
missionaries, and concludes by saying: 

"Let those who come here come well provided 
with patience and charity, and let them possess good 
humor, for they may become rich — I mean, in troubles; 
but where will the laboring ox go when he must not 
draw the plough ? and if he do not draw the plough 
how can there be a harvest ? May God preserve you 
for many years in His love and grace." 

The first religious that suffered martyrdom was 
Father Luis Jayme. On the 4th of November, 1775, 
one thousand or more Indians assembled outside the 
church of San Carlos, and there divided into two 



16 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

bodies, one for the destruction of the Presidio and the 
other of the church. Father Luis, being- awakened 
by the tumult, rushed out to appease the mob, saying 
"Amar d Bias, lu'josf" (" Love God, my children.") 
They fell upon him with arrows, clubs and stones, 
and literally tore his body to pieces. A carpenter and 
a blacksmith, two of the Father's employes, were also 
killed. The attack on the soldiers was gallantly 
resisted, for, though turned out of the barracks, they 
entrenched themselves in a small hut, which they 
maintained until morning, when the mob dispersed. 
The remains of Father Luis were interred in the 
little chapel at the Presidio. Father Serra dispatched 
to Mexico, by the hands of Rivera, the Commander 
of Monterey, a requisition for an increase of the force 
of guards at the Missions. Rivera was joined at San 
Gabriel by an expedition commanded by Anza on its 
way from Sonora to the port of San Francisco. As soon 
as the Viceroy, Bucarelli, heard of the outrage, he 
wrote to Father Serra, as follows : 

1 ' I cannot express to your Reverence the sentiments 
with which the unhappy occurrence at the Mission of 
San Diego and the tragic death of Father Luis 
Jayme, an account of which I have received from the 
Commandant, Don Rivera y Moncada, and Don 
Bautista Anza, have inspired me. In all likelihood 
they would have been greater only for the opportune 
arrival of the last-named, with the families destined 
for Monterey. The arrangements which these officers 
have made for the security of San Diego, as well as 
for that of San Gabriel and San Luis, are prudent, 






HISTORIC OUTLINES. 



17 



and such as were dictated in view of the subsequent 
dangers. They have informed me of the apprehension 
of some of the malefactors, and encourage me to look 
for a return of tranquillity with the punishment of the 
guilty. I hope for the same; but as this attempt 
shows me how little is to be trusted either to the 
neophytes or the gentiles, I have given orders to Don 
Rieva, Governor of the Peninsula, to recruit, if pos- 
sible, twenty-five men as a reinforcement demanded 
by Don Rivera. The arrival of the packet boats, 
the Principe and San Carlos, which left for their destina- 
tion on the 10th current, will serve not a little to tran- 
quillize the inhabitants, at the same time that they 
will facilitate the occupation of the port of San Fran- 
cisco; and as there are some on board in the capacity 
of soldiers, I have ordered that they should remain at 
San Diego. Moreover, I have ordered the Commissary 
at San Bias to raise some recruits withput delay, and 
to forward them, with arms and ammunition, to the 
Governor. I am not unmindful of the other things 
to which I will give effect as soon as an opportunity 
occurs; and I think that, having offered this tribulation 
to God, you will not alter in anything your apostolic 
zeal, but rather trust to seeing ameliorated the consti- 
tution of these establishments, to which no doubt your 
Reverence will contribute much by animating the 
Fathers to confidence, on account of the presence of 
the troops." 

Before proceeding to the narrative of the formal 
founding of the Mission of San Francisco, a brief sketch 



18 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

of the general plan of the Missions may prove interest- 
ing. 

In 1839 the entire population of Upper California, 
white and mixed, was only five thousand. De Mofras, 
the French traveller, who visited California between 
the years 1841 and 1842, gives the following descrip- 
tion of the Mission establishments at that time : 

" The Mission buildings are made of adobe,* and, 
as at the best Mission, that of San Luis Key, were 
built about a square measuring nearly 150 yards each 
way. The Church, which is the main part of the 
structure, has a portico in front. The other buildings 
occupying the remainder of the square, are but one- 
story high, and the floors (of dirt or brick) are raised 
a little above the level of the earth outside. The court 
inside the square is ornamented with fountains and 
trees. The small squares are occupied as lodging- 
places for the Fathers, mayor domos and travellers, and 
as workshops, schools and storehouses. The infirma- 
ries for men and women are situated in the most quiet 
part of the Mission, where also are the schools. The 
young Indian girls dwell in a house called the convent, 
and they themselves are styled nuns. The Fathers 
are compelled to keep them closed, to protect them 
from the brutality of the male Indians. Placed un- 
der the care of trustworthy Indian matrons, the 
girls learn to weave wool, hemp and cotton ; and they 
never leave the convent* until old enough to get mar- 
ried. * * * 



* The Mission Churches of San Diego, Santa Barbara and San Carlos 
(Monterey), were built of stone. 



HISTORIC OUTLINES. 19 

' ' The reverend fathers encouraged the Indians to 
labor by often putting their hands to the work and 
always giving the example. * * * * Necessity 
rendered them industrious ; and it is astonishing how, 
with so few resources — often without European labor- 
ers, assisted only by savages, almost devoid of intelli- 
gence, and often hostile — they have been able to 
cultivate large tracts of land, and at the same time 
erect spacious houses and mills, build roads, bridges 
and* irrigating canals, and perform much mechanical 
labor. The timber used in the Mission buildings 
was usually cut on steep mountains, eight or ten 
leagues distant, and the Indians were taught to burn 
lime, cut stone and mould brick. Around the Mission 
square stand the workhouses, the cabins of the neo- 
phytes and the houses of the white colonists. In 
addition to the Mission establishments, there are fifteen 
or twenty accessory farms and some branch chapels 
within a square of thirty or forty leagues. In front 
of the churches is a guard-house, occupied by four 
horse-soldiers and a sergeant, who serve to escort the 
Fathers, carry despatches and help to repel the attacks 
of the savage tribes which in early times occasionally 
assailed the Missions. " * * * 



The daily routine at each of the establishments, 
according to Eev. "William Gleeson's " History of the 
Catholic Church in California/' was founded on 
the Jesuits' system in Lower California. At sunrise 
they arose and proceeded to the church where, 



20 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

after morning prayers, they assisted at the holy 
Sacrifice of the Mass. Breakfast next followed, when 
they proceeded to their respective employments. 
Towards rioon they returned to the Mission and spent 
the time from then till 2 o'clock, between dinner 
and repose, after w 7 hich they ago in repaired to their 
work and remained engaged till the evening Angelus, 
about an hour before sunset. All then betook 
themselves to the church for evening devotions, which 
consisted of the ordinary family prayers and the 
Rosary, except on special occasions, when other devo- 
tional exercises were added. After supper, which 
immediately followed, they amused themselves in 
divers sports, games and dancing till the hour for re- 
pose Their diet, of wdiich the poor of any country 
might be justly envious, consisted of an abundance 
of excellent beef and mutton, with vegetables in the 
season. Wheaten cakes and imddings, or porridge, 
called atole and pinole, also formed a portion of the 
repast. The dress w 7 as, for the males, linen shirts, 
trousers, and a blanket to be used as an overcoat. The 
women received each, annually, two undergarments, 
a gown and a blanket. In years of plenty, when the 
Missions had become rich, the Fathers distributed all 
the surplus money among the Indians in clothing and 
trinkets. Such was the general character of the early 
Missions established in Upper California by the dis- 
ciples of St. Francis of Assis. 

Speaking of the economy exercised by the Mis- 
sionaries during their administration, De Mofras 
says : 



HISTORIC OUTLINES. 21 

"One remarkable fact about the establishment of 
those Missions is, that they entailed no sacrifice upon 
the Government. When the first Missions were 
founded in Lower California the Yiceroy gave some as- 
sistance. Philip V., during the first year of his reign, 
granted $13,000 to them; but, in 1735, the Jesuits, 
having received considerable donations, administered 
them so well that they not only paid the expenses of the 
Missions, but bought new lands." 

The property of the Pious Fund (Fondo Pio) of 
California consisted (at the time De Mofras visited 
the Californias) of the haciendas of San Pedro, Tor- 
reon, Rincon, and Las Golondrinas, including several 
mines, workshops, and immense herds of cattle, raid 
more than five hundred leagues of land in the State 
of Tamaulipas.- This property was originally given 
to the Jesuit Fathers by the Marquis de Villa Fuente, 
Grand Chancellor of New Spain, and his wife, the 
Countess de las Torres, on the 7th of June, 1735. The 
Society was further enriched by large legacies of 
property near San Luis Potosi, Guanajuato, and Gua- 
dalajara. 

We continue to quote from De Mofras: 

" In 1827 the Mexican Government seized the sum 
of $78,000 in specie lying in the Mint at the Capital, 
which money belonged to the Jesuits, having been 
obtained by the sale of the hacienda Arroya Zarco. 
The Pious Fund was further despoiled of large tracts 
of land by the Congress of Jalisco; and finally Pres- 
ident Santa Anna sold the entire fund to Messrs. 
Barajo and Rubio Bros. 



2$ OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

" Under the Spanish Government the annual reve- 
nues amounted to about $50,000. Of this, $25,000 
served to pay the expenses of the Fathers, fifteen 
Dominicans [in Lower California], $600 each, and forty 
Franciscans [in Upper California], $400 each, and the 
remaining $25,000 was used to buy clothes, tools, and 
ornaments for the churches. The Spanish Govern- 
ment paid for all the supplies furnished by the Mis- 
sions to the Presidios. The agent who received this 
payment bought merchandise which he sent at his own 
expense to San Bias, and thence it was carried twice 
a year in ships, without charge, to the various ports 
of California. 

"Fi«om 1811 to 1818, and from 1823 to 1831 the 
Missions in California did not receive any money from 
the Pious Fund, in consequence of the political 
troubles then agitating Spain and Mexico. By adding 
the sum of $92,000 due to the Franciscans of Upper 
California, $78,0C0 taken out of the Mint of Mexico, 
$270,000, value of supplies furnished by the Mis- 
sions of Upper California to the Presidios, and the 
revenues of the Pious Fund for more than ten years — 
by adding all these together, is attained a total of a 
million dollars, of which the Mexican Government 
has despoiled the Missionary Society, in contempt of 
the express intention of the testators. 

" On the 25th of May, 1832, the Mexican Congress 
passed a decree authorizing the Executive authorities 
of the nation to farm out the haciendas of the Pious 
Fund for seven years, the rent to be paid into the 
National Treasury. A second decree of Congress, 



HISTORIC OUTLINES. 23 

under date of September 19, 1836, directed that the 
Pious Fund should be placed under the control of the 
new Bishop in California and his successors, so that 
those prelates might employ it for the development 
of the Missions, and for similar purposes, always 
respecting the will of the founders of the Fund. 

" On the 8th of February, 1842, General Santa 
Anna, Provisional President, acting under his discre- 
tionary powers, took away the administration of the 
Pious Fund from the Bishop in California, notwith- 
standing the protest of the latter, and conferred it, 
by a decree of the 21st of the same month, on General 
Valencia, Chief of the Military Staff. The word 
" administration" has a very clear meaning to all who 
know the country. This was the last blow, previous 
to the final sale, struck at the system organized by the 
Jesuits. Let us add, nevertheless, that the few Fran- 
ciscans still remaining in California continue to receive 
$400 annually, paid in merchandise charged at exor- 
bitant rates. 



' ' While the Mexican Government was taking posses- 
sion of the Pious Fund and depriving the Fathers of 
the temporal administration of the Mission property, 
its agents were industriously engaged in pillaging the 
Missions and killing the cattle which formed their 
wealth. Already, in 1822, at the unfortunate epoch 
of the separation from Spain, some partisans of the 
new Government were heard to use the word ' secu- 
larization.' 



24 OUR CENTENNIAL .MEMOIR. 

" Nevertheless, the Spanish Missionaries resisted 
successfully until 1830; but, in 1831, the Keverend 
Father President, Sanchez, who had courageously 
opposed the invasion of the civil power, having died 
of grief, the majority of the Fathers, exposed to insult, 
determined to quit the country; and these men, who 
had devoted thirty or forty years of their lives to 
enlighten and civilize the Indians — who had induced 
the red men to abandon their wandering mode of life; 
who had created fine estates and bred immense herds 
of cattle; who had administered immense sums of 
money, amounting sometimes to $100,000 — these ven- 
erable religious were seen departing from a country 
which they had enriched by their toil, and rendered 
fertile by their apostolic words, taking nothing with 
them save a coarse woollen dress." 



The Mission of San Francisco. 

June 17, 1776, the expeditions started from Mon- 
terey to found the Mission and Presidio of San Fran- 
cisco. The land force arrived on the 27th, and 
encamped on the borders of a small lake, known as 
the " Laguna de los Dolores." There has been a 
difference of opinion regarding the location of this 
lagoon. Some writers contend that it was the place 
known, as late as 1861, as " The Willows," while 
others speak of the " Washerwoman's Lagoon," in the 
neighborhood of the Presidio, as the spot. It is 
scarcely probable that if the latter were chosen, the 



HISTORIC OUTLINES. 25 

Missionaries would return so far south to select the 
site of their new Mission; General Vallejo gives his 
own and the authority of the people of ninety years 
ago that there used to be a pond, or " small lake," in 
the Sans Souci Valley, north of the Mission Dolores, 
and immediately behind the hill on which the Protes- 
tant Orphan Asylum now stands. It was the common 
opinion, according to the General, that this was where 
the expedition halted. There is, however, an Atlas in 
the San Francisco Odd Fellows Library, which con- 
tains all the surveys of the celebrated French expedi- 
tion, under La Perouse. They were made in the begin- 
ning of the present century. In the Atlas in question we 
find accurate maps of all the principal ports along the 
Pacific coast. That of the Port of San Francisco was 
made between the years 1785 and 1788. All lines and 
indentations are carefully drawn, and the location 
of every lagoon, cove and inlet is clearly defined. 
The "Laguna de los Dolores" is placed where the 
western part of Mission Bay formed an estuary, which 
became a marsh, or " laguna," when the tides receded. 
It is now nearly all filled in, and in the course of 
time nothing will remain of La Perouse's " Laguna 
de los Dolores" save the canal that will ebb and flow 
by the Channel street of the future. 

According to Father Palou: " On the 27th day of 
June the expedition arrived in the vicinity, and the 
Commander ordered a halt on the margin of a lake 
which Senor Anza named after Our Lady of los Do- 
lores, and which was in view of the creek of los Llo- 



26 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

ronas and the shore of the salt marsh or arm of the 
sea which runs to the southeast, with the intention 
of waiting for the ship to mark the spot for the loca- 
tion of the fort and Presidio, and in the interim to 
explore the land. On the following day the Com- 
mander gave orders for the construction of a hut 
covered with branches that should serve as a chapel 
wherein to celebrate the holy sacrifice of the Mass, 
(in which Mass was said for the first time on the 29th 
of June, the feast of Saints Peter and Paul), and 
wherein it should be celebrated daily until the removal 
of the camp to the site which it now occupies." 

The natives came to see the strangers in great num- 
bers, and made signs of peace and welcome. While 
awaiting the arrival of the store-ship, the explorers 
were engaged in cutting down timber for their 
houses, in order to establish a permanent settle- 
ment. The vessel did not arrive until the 18th 
of August, having had foul winds throughout the 
passage. On the 17th day of September — the festi- 
val of the Stigmata of St. Francis — formal possession 
was taken of the Presidio; and for the establishment 
of the Mission was selected the 4th of October, the 
Feast of the Seraphic Saint after whom the port was 
named. After blessing, reverencing and planting the 
holy cross, the first Mass was chanted, and the cere- 
mony concluded by a Te Deum ; the act of possession 
in the name of the Sovereign was accompanied 
with many discharges of artillery and musketry by 
the naval and military forces. The harbor was after- 
wards surveyed by sea and land, and it was ascer- 



HISTORIC OUTLINES. 27 

tained that the passage the expedition had entered 
by was the only outlet to the ocean. On the 8th day 
of November, the Mission was taken possession of with 
similar ceremonies, the want of music being supplied 
by the continual discharge of firearms. 

The work that lay before the missionaries was one 
that required tact, patience and endurance. The 
aborigines were neither brave nor bold, generous nor 
spirited. According to Tuthill, they seem to have 
possessed none of the noble characteristics that, with 
a slight coloring of romance, make heroes of the red 
men of the Atlantic slopes and win for them our ready 
sympathy. We hear of no orators among them, no 
bold braves terribly resenting and contesting to the 
last the usurpation of the whites. They were " dig- 
gers, " filthy and cowardly, succumbing without a blow 
to the rule of foreign masters. As if to redeem 
them from stolid brutality, occasional glimpses of 
humor may be noted, and a disposition to make fun 
of the missionary when his back was turned. But 
under the Father's eye they cowered like children on 
the low benches before the old-time pedagogue wield- 
ing the ferrule. Doubtless, the mild, patriarchal 
treatment of the good missionaries disarmed their 
hostility. Perhaps, had they been subject to the rough 
handling which the Indian tribes generally received 
* from English settlers, they might have fired up and 
displayed some of the violence and savage fury that 
make us respect the Indians of the East and North. 
Or, it may be it was partly because they were treated 
as children that they grew into simple childish boys. 



28 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

They were as contemptible physically as intellectually, 
and educed as little traces of a moral sense as of a rea- 
soning faculty. To Drake's party they showed a 
disposition to offer sacrifices, thinking the " jolly 
tars" to be veritable gods. Venegas thought the 
Lower Californians to be the most stupid and weak, 
both in mind and body, of all mortals. But the 
settlers of Upper California, who had seen both, 
thought the northern natives far inferior to the south- 
ern. Humboldt considered them as low in the scale 
of humanity as the inhabitants of Van Dieman's Land. 
Though in many respects one people, the gibberish 
they spoke varied widely in different localities. Those 
of San Diego could not understand a word of the 
language of those sixty miles north, and only a high 
mountain range divided the dialects. They held that 
the inferior regions were once on a time married, and 
their children were the sand, and soil, rocks, stones, 
flints for their arrows, trees, herbs, grass and animals. 
There was a phantom, which they called Chinigchi- 
nich — an orphan from the beginning — who could see 
in the darkest night as clearly as at noon. This pow- 
erful being defended the good and chastised the bad; 
he was always and everywhere present, but hailed 
from the stars, as his home. Him they regarded as 
the creator of their race and as their great Captain. 
The land where they lived was the first land made.* 
They seemed to believe that there was very little beyond 
it. The sea was at first but a fresh-water stream 
coursing around their little earth ; but the fishes, 
putting their heads together, agreed and managed to 



HISTORIC OUTLINES. 29 

break a rock, inside, which was gall ; emptying this 
into the river, the waters grew a little and? swelled to 
an ocean, and the thoughtful fishes were rewarded 
with plenty of room and a wholesome pickle to sport 
in. To the great Captain, or god of the barbarous 
rfftme, they accredited all the precepts of morality that 
they taught their children; and to this command they 
traced their customs and mode of life. He told them 
to build a temple ; so in every town close by the 
chief's house was an oval enclosure made of the 
branches of trees and mats, surrounded by stakes of 
wood driven into the ground, which constituted the 
temple. It was a very sacred spot, within or near which 
no irreverent act was ever performed, for the god 
himself was there in the person of a cayote skin stuffed 
with feathers, claws, talons and beaks, which doubt- 
less symbolized the strength, swiftness and power of 
the birds and beasts from which they were taken. 
They worshipped him with grotesque dances and 
hideous yells, and sometimes, in perfect silence, squat- 
ting in most awkward attitudes in his presence, and 
retaining one position while' the ceremony of adora- 
tion lasted. His temple was the city of refuge where 
the most outrageous criminal was safe, and, after the 
visit, could go free, though the crime might be pun- 
ished on the descendants of the offender at once, or 
after the lapse of generations. The boys were 
whipped with nettles and laid upon ants' nests that 
the stings of the insects might make them courageous 
under the infliction of pain. They were branded by 
burning moxas on the fleshy part of the arm, to put 



30 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

them above the consideration of trifling ailments. 
They were forbidden to warm themselves at a fire, lest 
they should come short of the toughness of men, and, 
until they were heads of families, certain food they 
must not touch. To violate any of these orders would 
let loose the evil spirit on them, and provoke the if% 
of the god. The girls were trained to work from 
infancy. At ten, to heighten their beauty, their 
breasts and faces were tatooed, the flesh being 
pricked with the thorn of the cactus until it bled, and 
a soft charcoal rubbed in, in lieu of India ink. On 
arriving at womanhood they were placed on a bed of 
branches, over some heated stones that were laid in a 
hole in the ground, and there kept, with little or no 
food, for three days, while ancient hags danced around 
the pile singing songs well calculated to inspire the 
wretched perspiring beauties with a sense of the vast 
responsibilities that pertained to their new condition. 
Betrothed by their parents in infancy, they were mar- 
ried with a good deal of ceremony, and divorced 
without any, at their own or their husband's will. 
A skin, thrown over his shoulders, constituted the full 
dress of a gentleman. Mats made of squirrel skins 
twisted into rope, sewn together, and tolerably fitted 
to the person, constituted a fine lady's common dress. 
Add a fringe of grass reaching to the knees, hang 
ornaments of beads and shells upon her neck, and 
varnish the face with colored mud, and she was dressed 
for a grand occasion. The San Francisco Indians are 
said to have used a much more simple style of dress, 
plastering their whole bodies with mud, especially in 



HISTORIC OUTLINES. 



31 



the cooler months of the year; though, if this were so, 
the fashion came in vogue probably after Drake's day, 
or was reserved for winter. The men made bows and 
arrows, baskets and nets for fishing, killed some 
small game, and fished a little when the mood was 
on; but most of the work was done by the other sex. 
The women went to the woods, gathered the acorns 
that were a staple of food, picked the berries, dug 
the edible roots, gathered the firewood, cooked, kept 
house and cared for the children. The acorns they 
mashed, wet up with water into a dough, and cooked 
between hot stones. Buckeyes they rubbed down 
with water into a thin gruel, and boiled by throwing 
hot stones into the mess. They held it a godsend 
when a whale was stranded on the coast ; it relieved 
them from the necessity of work for weeks, for, like 
most gourmands who prefer their game a little high, 
they thought the blubber improved by moderate age. 
Dancing was a very important part of all their 
entertainments and their religious rites. Save at a 
few special feasts, the dances were generally very 
modest, the sexes dancing apart from each other, 
though in the same room. Their god was a great 
admfrer of vigorous dancing, so dancing was a virtue, 
and this virtue at least was popular. "War was never 
their passion; but if one of a tribe stole a squirrel or 
an ornament from another tribe, 1ft ey generally 
indorsed his theft and maintained their honor with 
their arms. The war being ended, the thief was dealt 
with as he deserved. Yet it appears that they lived 
very peacefully most of ttle time, and did very little 



32 " OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. | 

quarreling. On occasion of their grand feasts, scalps 
taken in battle were exhibited on a pole planted on a 
temple. The women and children who were captured 
in war generally stayed with their captors for life. 
Every town had its chief, but he enjoyed very little 
consideration in the town councils. If he transgressed 
his authority, they deposed him. His person was 
held in veneration, although his advice might be 
treated with sovereign contempt. Their medical prac- 
tice was exceedingly simple. Herbs crushed or bruised 
and applied as a poultice was the treatment for most 
external diseases. For slight internal ailments they 
smoked the same herbs, or w T hipped the part affected 
with nettles. For serious diseases, the cold water 
bath was a common remedy ; that failing, the patient 
was laid upon the dry sand or ashes and a fire kindled 
at his feet, which was kept blazing night and day. 
Near his head was placed a cup of water or some gruel. 
His friends then sat down by his side and waited in 
patience until he recovered or died. Of course they 
had their quacks, who performed wonderful cures, 
through the medium of a perfect faith and the entire 
control of the patient's imagination. When one died 
he was either buried or burned, according as the»cus- 
tom of the locality was. When burning was the 
fashion, the corpse was laid upon a pile of faggots in 
the presence <9i the friends, and the bows and arrows, 
and whatever the deceased cherished as his property, 
were laid beside him. When the professional burners 
announced that all was consumed, the friends retired 
outside the town to do tlfeir mourning, the doctor 




An Old Mission Chubch. 



HIST0KIC OUTLINES. • 33 

accompanying them and chanting the story of the fatal 
sickness, while they wept. After three days and 
nights they returned home, and cut their hair in token 
of their loss. If the departed were a distant relative 
the rule required that it be cut half its old length ; if 
it were a parent, wife or child, the head must be 
shaved close. They thought Death was a being who 
took away a person's breath, and after that there was 
no more of him forever. The punishments that they 
feared from their god were almost entirely physical, 
and pertained to this life. Still they thought that the 
heart of a good chief went up after death among the 
stars to enlighten the earth; hence, that the stars, 
comets and meteors were the hearts of great Indians 
departed. Common men had no such honor awaiting 
them, and the chiefs only attained it by virtue of the 
fact that, after death, and before being burned, men 
who practiced a modified cannibalism As a profession 
came and with much ceremony consumed a small por- 
tion of their flesh. 



The Santa Cruz Mission. 



Mission Doloees numbered already fifteen years of 
existence, and hundreds of neophytes had gathered 
beneath the shadow of its Cross, while the benighted 
Indians around Aptos and Santa Cruz were still 
buried in the darkness of paganism. 



34 £>VR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

Strange to say, before the expedition by land, accom- 
panied by Fathers Crespi and Gomez, had discovered 
the magnificent Bay of San Francisco, it had already 
reposed under one of the mammoth redwood trees 
which then crowned the adjacent mountains and 
hills, even to the very shores of the Pacific, or lain 
down under the canopy of heaven on a soft bed of 
grass, gemmed with fragrant wild roses, along the 
banks of the San Lorenzo, where now shines in beauty 
the City of the Holy Cross. 

Why the foundation of this Mission was so long 
postponed, we cannot ascertain; but we may surmise 
one of the causes to be that, when the first expedition 
passed through, no Indians appeared around the 
place; and though in subsequent expeditions Father 
Palou descried a few of the native race peeping 
timidly from behind the trees, the explorers may have 
deemed that there was not a sufficient number to 
justify the establishment of a Mission. 

The old records of Santa Cruz tell us that the 
Mission Indians were never numerous there, and did 
not number more than three or four hundred, while 
in other Missions they were counted by thousands. 

The day of grace, however, dawned finally for those 
children of the woods. In a record of that parish we 
read that on the 25th of September, 1791, Fathers 
Alonzo Salazar and Baldomeros Lopez planted the 
Mission Cross there for the first time. 

They lived for awhile in huts constructed of branches 
of trees, covered with mud ; a provisional church was 
also erected. The first stone of the adobe structure, 



OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 35 

now in ruins, was laid with great solemnity, on the 
27th of February, 1793, the soldiers, Indians and 
officiating priests being present. It was completed on 
the 10th of May, 1794, and was dedicated with the 
usual ceremonies, Father T6mas Pefia (missionary 
of Santa Clara,) the commanding officer of the 
Presidio of San Francisco (Hermenegildo Sal,) besides 
four other priests, assisting on the occasion. The 
walls were built very thick (nearly five feet); the length 
of the church was 11 2 J- feet, 29 feet wide, and 25 J 
feet in height. 

Nearly all the adobe churches of California were 
very long and narrow. Among those yet standing 
which have seen their first centenary, are that of San 
Luis Obispo, built August 19th, 1772, and that of 
Monterey, built June 3d, 1770. But the Mission 
church of Santa Cruz has not been destined to behold 
its first centennial. It had scarcely *fifty years of 
existence when part of it fell down. It was repaired; 
but a few years after (in 1857) the front walls fell in. 
On account of threatening danger it had finally to be 
demolished, and of the old church nothing now re- 
mains save the side walls of the sanctuary, the vestry, 
and a long building in the rear which is used for » 
storage. It is now covered with a new roof of shingles, 
and its present existence is probably due to the strong 
iron braces that support it. 

It was customary for one Mission always to receive 
assistance from the others at their foundation. Father 
Olber tells us that ' c at the foundation of the Mission 
of Santa Cruz, Santa Clara gave to us thirty cows, five 



36 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

yoke of oxen (two pair very bad), fourteen bulls, 
twenty steers, and nine horses." The Mission of 
Carmelo gave seven mules. According to Father 
Olber, the Mission of San Francisco showed a ques- 
tionable generosity, for the old missionary, in a quiet 
humor, observes that " of the five yoke of oxen which 
the Mission of our Father Saint Francis gave us, we 
had to kill a pair, so bad ivere they; and of the seven 
mules received from Carmel, one was so gentle that he 
died three days after/' However, he acknowledges 
to having received from San Francisco " sixty sheep, 
ten rams, and two bushels of barley." 

Their pecuniary resources seem to have been limited 
in the beginning. Father Olber says that in a few 
days ' c they ran short of provisions, and had to apply 
to the soldiers, who assisted them with beans, corn 
*and chocolate, to the amount of $42/' which value, 
the Father does not fail to assure us, was returned to 
them afterwards. 

From 1791 to 1814 there were 1,684 baptisms, 565 
marriages, 1,242 deaths, and the number of Indians 
then living at the Mission was 388, which can be safely 
taken as a fair average of the past years. The cattle 
• had increased to 3,300 head; sheep to 3,500; horses 
to 600; mules to 25; hogs to 46. In the year 1814, 
forty-five bushels of wheat, seven bushels of barley, 
six bushels of peas, one bushel of corn, and one 
bushel of beans were sown; ancl 500 bushels of wheat, 
200 of barley, 200 of peas, and 189 of corn was the 
product of the harvest of that year. In 1834, when 
the Mission was secularized, the cattle were valued at 




Ruins of the Mission of San Caelos. 



HISTOBIC OUTLINES. 37 

$5,329, and the sheep at $2,219. In fact, the liquidated 
value of the entire Mission property was estimated at 
$97,361 96. This speaks well for the economy and 
industry of the good Fathers, who, in the space of 
forty-three years, made the Mission so prosperous 
that, from a very humble beginning, it raised itself to 
be able to maintain hundreds of Indians and give a 
helping hand to those colonists who established them- 
selves in the adjacent village of Branciforte. 

But if the Mission of Santa Cruz was rich in secular 
things, it was still richer in ornaments connected 
with the church. The tower had nine bells, some of 
which were valued at $800 each. The tower and bells 
together are said to have cost $3,900. The church 
was also very rich in vestments. A chasuble alone, 
still in a good state of preservation, was valued at 
$800. There are copes which cost $600 each. The 
silverware and vestments must have *cost many thou- 
sands of dollars, which, together with other articles 
consecrated to Divine worship, were valued at $27,569 ! 
This speaks volumes in^avor of the poor Franciscans 
who, contented with a bare subsistence, employed all 
their means for the benefit of their neophytes and the 
honor and glory of God. 

A great deal more could be written about Santa 
Cruz; but we must pass to other Missions. Let us 
hope, however, that though the buildings have crum- 
bled to dust, the fruits of the Christian civilization 
which was planted by the missionaries shall remain 
for ever; and though a few years hence not one of the 
old natives will be in existence — the oldest of them 



38 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

then living, a blind man one hundred years old, hav- 
ing died on the last day of 1876 — still it is to be hoped 
that the new generation taking possession of the 
Indians' lands will always cherish a respect, at least, 
for those self-sacrificing men who, with the light of the 
Gospel, banished the darkness of ignorance and 
paganism. 

What was once the Mission orchard is now cut up 
into building lots, and many families live there ; and 
the track of the Felton railroad now passes over the 
very spot where, in 1812, the good Father Quintana 
was killed by the Indians. 

The Santa Cruz of to-day promises at no distant 
day to realize the anticipations of Father Palou. On 
his way to Monterey, in 1775, returning from his 
expedition to the Bay of San Francisco, he passed 
where Santa Cruz now is situated, and, looking around, 
he said it was a good spot, not only for a Mission, but 
for a. town, and, even more, for a large city. The 
Mission came and passed away; the town succeeded 
the Mission; and, ere long, a c^ty, with at least 15,000 
inhabitants, will take the place of the humble village 
of Brancif orte on one side and the unpretending town 
on the other side of the San Lorenzo. 



The Mission of San Juan, 



The Mission of San Juan Bautista was founded in 
the reign of Charles IV., King of Spain, and his 
Excellency the Marquis de Brancif orte, in a place 



HISTOKIC OUTLINES. 39 

called by the natives ' 'Popelonichoin," and, by the 
first explorers, " San Benito." It was begun on the 
feast of its patron, St. John the Baptist, June 24th, 
1797, those present being the President of the Mis- 
sions of New California, Father Fermin de Lazuen, 
Father Magin Catala, and Father Jose Manuel de 
Martiarena. The troops destined to guard the place 
were present, as also many Indians, who showed 
themselves very much pleased with the ceremony. 

The President, Father de Lazuen, blessed the waters 
and the place around, erected a large cross and, 
with befitting homage to the symbol of Redemption, 
sang the Litanies of the Saints, celebrated Mass, and 
exhorted those present to co-operate with him in the 
good work, concluding the whole with the Te Deum. 

The first ministering priests were Father Manuel 
and Father Adriano Martinez. The first baptism took 
place on the 11th of July, 1797. The name of the 
child, when a gentile, was " Tixidies;" in baptism 
John the Baptist was given. 

The first stone was not laid till the 13th of June, 
1803, and the church was not completed till 1812. It 
was dedicated on the 23d of Jun? of that year. The 
missionaries of San Francisco, San Jose and Santa 
Clara were present at the dedication. D. Manuel 
Gutierrez, a resident of Los Angeles, acted as sponsor. 
When the church was dedicated, the Fathers had 
baptized already 1963 persons, between children and 
adults. The buildings and church — scarcely over fifty 
years old — are yet in a good state of preservation. 



40 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

San Juan is a very quiet place, and numbers but a 
few hundred inhabitants. When the stages going 
south used to pass through the town there lingered some 
animation there, and many travellers could be seen, 
covered with dust, making the long corridors echo to the 
sound of their footsteps as they tried to get a glimpse 
of the old Mission church which, being very long, 
presents a venerable aspect. But now all is silent. 
The railroad passes along a few miles from San Juan, 
and leaves it again in the partial silence and quietude 
of the past. It now greatly rests with the rich land- 
owners, who own immense tracts of land in the vicinity, 
whether it is not better for the future prosperity of 
San Juan that they should sub-divide their lands and 
open them up to industrious families, who will cul- 
tivate that beautiful valley and fill it with an enter- 
prising population. Let us hope that, when the old 
Mission beMs, from the top of their substantial new 
tower, will sound peals of joy announcing the centen- 
nial of the Mission, that there will throng thousands 
of inhabitants to hear them and join in fraternal accord 
to celebrate the happy era which brought, along with 
the Gospel of ChrisL the sweet fruits of modern arts 
and industry. 



The Mission of Santa Barbara. 



We take pleasure in presenting an extract from a 
letter of Yery Rev. Father Gonzalez, of the Order of 
St. Francis, to Rev. J. Adam (now pastor of the 




Santa Bakbaea. 



HISTORIC OUTLINES. 41 

church at Santa Cruz, and to whom we are indebted 
for many interesting items in this volume in connection 
with the Mission of Santa Cruz and others of the 
southern counties), written in September, 1864, from 
the Apostolic College of Our Lady of Los Dolores, 
Santa Barbara. Father Gonzalez was the last of the 
old pioneer missionaries who labored to plant the 
Cross in these golden regions. In this letter he 
gives to the young missionary a general view of the 
state of the Missions on his arrival in Upper California : 

" Rev. and Dear Sir: — On my landing in this coun- 
try, which happened on the 15th of January, 1833, 
there were in existence from San Diego up to San 
Francisco Solano 21 Missions, which provided for 
14,000 or 15,000 Indians. Even the poorest Missions, 
that of San Rafael and Soledad, provided everything 
for divine worship, and the maintenance of the Indians. 
The care of the neophytes was left to ,the Mission- 
ary, who, not only as Pastor, instructed them in their 
religion and administered the sacraments to them, but 
as a householder, provided for them, governed and in- 
structed them in their social life, procuring for them 
peace and happiness. 

" Every Mission, rather than a town, was a large 
community, in which the Missionary was President, 
distributing equally burdens and benefits. No one 
worked for himself, and the products of the harvest, 
cattle and industry in which they were employed was 
guarded, administered and distributed by the Mission- 
ary. He was the Procurator and Defender of his 
neophytes, and, at the same time, their Chief and 



42 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

Justice of Peace, to settle all their quarrels, since the 
Mission Indians were not subject to the public author- 
ities, except in grievous and criminal cases. 

" This system, though criticized by some politicians, 
is the very one that made the Missions so nourishing. 
The richest in population was that of San Luis Rey; 
in temporal things, that of San Gabriel. Mine was 
that of San Jose, and, although I was promised, as it 
was on the gentile frontier, it would not be secu- 
larized, it, too, succumbed in 1836. 

" In the inventory made in January, 1837, the result 
showed that said Mission numbered 1,300 neophytes, 
a great piece of land, well tilled; the store-houses 
filled with seeds ; two orchards, one with 1,600 fruit 
trees ; two vineyards — one with 6,039 vines, the other 
with 5,000; tools for husbandry in abundance; shops 
for carpenters, blacksmiths, shoemakers, and even 
tanneries, and all the implements for their work. 

"The fields were covered with live stock: horned 
cattle, 20,000 head; sheep, 15,000; horses, 459. For 
the saddle 600 colts of two years, 1,630 mares, 149 
yoke of oxen, 30 mules, 18 jackasses, and 77 hogs. 

" Twice a year a new dress was given to the neo- 
phytes, amounting in the distribution to $6,000. "When 
the Mission was secularized I delivered to the Mayor- 
domo then in charge some $20,000 worth of cloth 
and other articles which the store-house contained. 

" The church of the Mission of San Jose was neatly 
adorned, and well provided with vestments and other 
religious articles. Thirty musicians served in the 
choir, and they had a very neat dress for feast days. 



HISTOEIC OUTLINES. 43 

' c Of the Mission of Santa Clara, we can say the 
same more or less. 

" The other Missions, called 'the Northern/ through 
having been already secularized, were in utter bank- 
ruptcy, and the same can be affirmed for the most 
part of those of the south, down to San Diego ; for it 
was observed that as long as the Missions were in the 
hands of the missionaries everything was abundant; 
but as soon as they passed into the hands of laymen 
everything went wrong, till eventually complete ruin 
succeeded, and all was gone. Yet, we cannot say 
that the ambition of those men was the cause, since, 
though the Government in the space of four years, 
divided seven ranches to private individuals — the 
smallest of a league and a half — yet in spite of this 
cutting off of part of my Mission lands, the Mission 
was every day progressing more and more. 

" We have not to attrib\*te the destruction of these 
establishments to rapacity; for though we can presume 
that something was taken, this was not the principal 
agent of destruction; but the blunder was made in 
their enterprises and the high fees paid to the Chief 
Steward and other salaried men, etc. 

" The Government of Mexico, up to the year 1830, 
acknowledged a debt in favor of these Missions of 
over $400,000, without counting other minor debts. 
Finally, we have to acknowledge that a manifest pun- 
ishment from God was the cause of the destruction 
of the Missions, since theft alone could not accom- 
plish it and the subsidy given to the Government 
would not affect' them. On the contrary, left to the 



44 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

priests, the Missions would have prospered, and other 
establishments still more opulent would have been 
erected in the Tulares, even without any protection 
from the Government, and deprived of the subsidy of 
the Pious Fund of $400,000, if the revolution of Spain 
in the year 1808 and that of Mexico in 1810 had not 
put an end to the prosperity of the missionaries. 
If zealous missionaries had been left amongst the 
savage tribes roaming through this vast territory, from 
the Sierra Nevada to the Coast Mountains, called then 
by the priests ' Tulares/ ail would have been converted 
to Christianity, and would not have perished, as we 
see them now. 

" I was able to save only a small relic of these tribes 
during the pestilence of 1833, in which I collected 
together some 600 Indians. I would have saved more 
during the small-pox epidemic of 1839, but my Mission 
had already been secularized, and I had no resources. 
I could do nothing for the Indians, who were like boys 
of one hundred years. It is only with liberality you 
can draw them towards you: give them plenty to eat 
and clothes in abundance, and they will soon become 
your friends, and you can then conduct them to 
religion, form them to good manners, and teach them 
civilized habits. 

" Do you want to know who were the cause of the 
ruin of these Missions ? As I was not only a witness 
but a victim of the sad events which caused their 
destruction, I have tried rather to shut my eyes 
that I might not see the evil, and close my ears to 
prevent hearing the innumerable wrongs which these 




San Fbancisco Solano among the Indians. 



HISTORIC OUTLINES. 45 

establishments had suffered. My poor neophytes did 
their part, in their own way, to try and diminish my 
sorrow and anguish." 

And here let us imitate the venerable Father Gon- 
zalez, and close, also, our eyes; for some of those who 
enriched themselves with the spoils of the poor 
Indians are still living. May God avert from them 
that terrible saying of St. Peter: " Keep thy money 
to thyself to perish with thee." — Acts viii. 20. 



The Pioneer Missionaries. 

As his Grace, the MostKeverend Archbishop of San 
Francisco, has, in a memorable discourse which will be 
found in these pages, referred to the " sad human 
vicissitudes"* which " determined that the sons of St. 
Francis, and, soon after, those of St. Dominic, should 
succeed to the charge of the Missions," some notice, 
however brief and rapidly sketched, of the labors of 
the Society of Jesus**n Lower California may not be 
uninteresting in a Memoir like the present. 

The introduction of Christianity into California 
dates from the arrival in St. Denis' Bay of the Eev. 
Father John Maria Salva Tierra, of the Society of 
Jesus, on the 19th day of October, 1697. From the 
very outset Father Tierra had placed his enterprise 
under the protection of the Mother of God, whose 
help he was wont to invoke at all times with the lov- 
ing hope and confidence of a true child of the Imma- 
culate Virgin. If the difficulties in his path were 



46 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

assuredly formidable, his fortitude was worthy of his 
holy model, the Apostle of the Indies, St. Francis 
Xavier. Separated for a considerable time from his 
brethren of the Society, in a strange land and amid a 
people prone to the darkest deeds of savagery, con- 
stantly exposed to grave perils through the unfriendly 
feeling of the Spanish authorities, the illustrious pio- 
neer missionary never succumbed, even for a moment, 
to the rigors of his lot. Some idea of his sublime 
spirit in adversity may be gleaned from his remark in 
a letter to a friend: " Henceforth, the standard of 
Christ will not be removed from these countries, and 
Mary will, undoubtedly, lay the foundation of her holy 
house among the elect." Of the pioneer missionary's 
auxiliaries in the spiritual conquest of California — 
Fathers Kiihno, Tempis, Copart, Goni, Peter and John 
Ugarte, Piccolo, Bassaldua, Titlo and Eohen (martyrs), 
Mayarga, Guillen, Bravo, Everard Helen, Keller, 
Echiverria, Tarraval, Neumayer, Cabranco and Tama- 
ral, (martyrs), Laymundo, Consag, Ketz, Sedelmayer, 
and other members of the So^ety — representatives, 
unlike their successors, the Franciscan Fathers, of 
many nationalities — it is hardly necessary to speak 
within the narrow limits of the present work. It is 
not, however, too much to say that the Jesuit Fathers 
in question furnished splendid examples of Christian 
zeal and heroism to their Franciscan successors. Of 
Father Ktihno, a native of Trent, and in early life 
Professor of Mathematics in the University of Ingols- 
tadt, in Bavaria — the first associate, it should be re- 
membered, of Father Salva Tierra in California — we 



HISTOEIC OUTLINES. 47 

read, in the " Apostolicos Afanes de la Compafiia de 
Jesus," that he baptized forty thousand of the abori- 
gines, and reclaimed them from barbarism ! As a 
champion and protector of the Indians cruelly op- 
pressed by the brutal terrorism of the Spanish colo- 
nists, the good father emulated the zeal and benignant 
spirit of the great Dominican, Las Casas. In 1698, 
we are told, Father Kuhno " set out on a tour of in- 
spection, and, after proceeding as far north as the 
Gila, turned west till he came to the head of the Gulf. 
Thence, continuing his course to the south, on arriv- 
ing at the Mission Dolores he had traveled on foot 
from nine to ten hundred miles. This, in a country 
destitute of every convenience, wild, rugged and 
mountainous, and inhabited only by uncivilized races, 
was a most arduous and perilous adventure. But it 
was only one of many a similar kind. During the 
subsequent years of his ministry he made other 
equally lengthened, arduous and perilous journeys, 
sometimes for the purpose of preaching the Gospel, 
sometimes for quelling rebellion, sometimes for recon- 
ciling enemies, and sometimes with the view of pro- 
moting the people's social condition, by instruct- 
ing them in the means necessary for providing 
for tl^ir temporal wants."* To the same eminent 
authority we are indebted^for the subjoined notice 
of another Jesuit missionary: "Father Lestiagp, 
who was of Mexican extraction, was born at Tepustu- 
cula, in 1684. He entered the Society when young, 

* " History of the Catholic Church in California ." ^ W. Gleeson, M . A. 



48 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

and gained the general esteem of his companions as 
well by his virtue as by his ability. While professor 
of Belles-Lettres, he was appointed to the Calif ornian 
Mission, whither he immediately repaired. During 
the twenty-nine years he lived in the country, he 
propagated religion across the whole of the peninsula. 
Frequently, he would rally forth into the mountains 
in quest of the savages, having only for his support 
a little corn in a sack. There, deprived of the 
ordinary comforts of life, he would remain preaching 
and catechizing till his presence was demanded else- 
where. What he suffered on those occasions, having 
to accommodate himself to the barbarous life of the 
people — exposed to the inclemency of the season — 
can be hardly conceived. It was thus he learned 
to dispense with the use of a bed (a luxury he never 
allowed himself towards the end of his days,) for 
having to lead the same life as the people, he was 
obliged to sleep on the ground. He always slept 
in his clothes, and rose ordinarily two hours before day, 
in order to occupy himself in prayer and preparation 
for the holy sacrifice of the Mass. At times, while 
making excursions through the woods in company 
with his neophytes, he would cry out in a transport 
of zeal : ' Come — oh ! come all to the faith o£ Jesus 
Christ: oh! who will make them all Christians, and 
conduct them to Heaven! 5 So little was his heart 
attached to temporal things, that on one occasion, 
when his people presented him with some pearls they 
had picked up on the shore after a storm, he ordered 
them to go ant* throw them back into the sea!" Of 



HISTORIC OUTLINES. 49 

Father Neumayer, we are informed by the Kev. 
Father Gleeson, that his career in California extended 
over a period of twenty years, during which, like his 
brethren, he was remarkable for great zeal and holi- 
ness of life. His character seems to have been to 
accommodate himself to every circumstance, the better 
to gain the affections of all, and thereby promote 
more securely, the interest of his heavenly "Master. 
In the fields, he labored in company with the culti- 
vators of the soil. On sea, he took his net and 
assisted the fishermen. At home, he was an architect, 
a carpenter, a blacksmith, or whatever else the cir- 
cumstances demanded. The wonderful providence 
of God, which overruleth and disposeth all things 
according to appointment, never failed to provide for 
the pressing wants of the Missions. Whenever 
death removed any of the Fathers, others were found 
ready to step into their place. Two months before 
the death of £he above-mentioned Father, two other 
Religious, Fathers Franco and Ames, arrived in the 
country. 

Those who know anything of the self-sacrificing 
spirit that has always animated the Society of Jesus 
will not be surprised to learn that the Provincial of 
the Society in Mexico — Father Francis Cevallas — 
" offered the Viceroy to renounce all the Calif ornian 
Missions, and those of New Spain, in order that the 
missionaries might be employed to greater advantage 
among the gentiles of the North." And here it should 
not be forgotten that from the very first, Fathers 
Ktihno and Salva Tierra had cherished the hope of 
3 



50 OUE CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

reclaiming from paganism and idolatry the inhabi- 
tants from Mexico to Oregon — an enterprise which 
would, in all probability, have been crowned with 
success under a more generous dispensation at 
Madrid. Although the offer of retiring from Cali- 
fornia in quest of new fields of missionary effort in the 
North was not accepted, through the advice of the 
Mexican hierarchy, the self-denial of the Society was 
manifest in the rejection by the Fathers of property 
amounting to upwards of half a million of dollars 
donated by a Mexican lady for missionary purposes 
in California. 

Through the zeal and untiring labors of the Jesuit 
Fathers during a period of seventy years, the symbol 
of salvation had been planted from Cape San Lucas to 
the mouth of the Colorado. They were the earliest 
explorers of the barbarous solitude of the magnificent 
Empire of Spain in the New World. Traces of their 
benignant sway may yet be found from the highlands 
of New Mexico to the arid jungles of Arizona. For 
two hundred years the Great Order, as Lord Macau- 
lay styles the Company of St. Ignatius, had vindi- 
cated the glory of the Catholic name in the Old 
"World and the New. True to the imperishable prin- 
ciple of their institute — "Ad Major em Dei Gloriam" — 
the sons of Loyola had been the chief champions of 
the Cross in every region of the earth. In all the 
countries of Europe, when the Reformation (so- 
called) threatened to submerge the very landmarks of 
loyalty to the Apostolic See and to sweep away " the 
fair humanities of old Religion," the Society of Jesus, 



HISTORIC OUTLINES. 51 

then in its first growth, and whose members were the- 
ologians-elect to the Yicar of Christ, constituted the 
bulwark of the Catholic war. In India, China, North, 
South and Central America, its services were not less 
memorable. Nor, amid trophies so radiant, and so 
splendid an accumulation of renown, is it the least 
glory of the Great Order that, at its suppression, in 
1773 — a measure conceived in a Satanic spirit by the 
infidel Governments of France, Spain and Naples — 
strong in its own innocence, in the number of its 
children, and in the love of all Catholics worthy of the 
name — it submitted to the authority of the Church 
" without a murmur, a reproof or a complaint." Of 
the persecution of the Society of Jesus in the Spanish 
Monarchy and its colonial dependencies, Father Glee- 
son thus writes: " On the 2d of April, 1767, all the 
Jesuits throughout the whole of the Spanish dominions, 
both at home and abroad, in the *East and the 
West, were seized by order of Charles III, and with- 
out any hearing or trial, without even knowing the 
cause of complaint, were thrown into prison, and 
treated as the veriest criminals. The numbers sub- 
jected to this horrible outrage, unparalleled in the an- 
nals of history, amounted in all to close on six thous- 
and. On the same 2d of April, his Majesty issued a 
royal proclamation, or pragmatic sanction, in order 
to justify himself in the eyes of his subjects, declaring 
that the motives which urged him to that course were 
sufficient, but yet should ever remain buried in his 
royal breast, and that if he did not act with greater se- 
verity, it was only owing to clemency. The document 



52 OUK CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

also made known to the public that any one convicted 
of speaking or writing in favor of the Fathers would be 
considered guilty of a capital offence. Even parents 
were strictly prohibited holding intercourse, directly 
or indirectly, with their children of the^Society. Tyr- 
anny, absurdity and folly could hardly proceed to 
further extremes." We cannot resist the pleasure of 
giving Father Gleeson's statement in extenso: 

"In California, the royal instructions were carried out with the 
same vigor and promptitude as in the other dependencies, with 
this only difference, that the distance from Spain prevented their 
being executed on the day appointed by the king. Their execu- 
tion was entrusted to Don Gaspar Portola, who was named 
Governor of the country. He was attended by a body of troops, 
fifty in number, in order that, if necessary, he might be able to 
forcibly expel the Religious. The Governor and party arrived 
in the country toward the end of November, 1767, and immedi- 
ately proceeded to execute the royal commands. Up to this mo- 
ment the Fathers were entirely unaware of what was about to 
take place. They had not heard of the proceedings in Europe 
and Mexico. In compliance with an invitation of the Governor, 
to meet him at Loretto, the Father Visitor arrived there on the 
eve of the Nativity of Our Blessed Eedeemer. On the following 
day, which should have been one of rejoicing rather than of 
mourning, he heard from the lips of the Governor the contents 
of the fatal decree. It was read for him and his companions, 
in the presence of the necessary witnesses. From that moment 
they were no longer their own masters; they were prisoners in 
the hands of the civil authorities. If they were not cast into 
prison, it was merely owing to the kindness and humanity of 
the Governor. They were, however, obliged to hand over all 
charge of their establishments, and to give an account of all 
their possessions; while, at the same time, they found themselves 
prohibited from exercising any public ecclesiastical functions. 
Thereupon, the Superior immediately wrote to all the Keligious, 



HISTOEIC OUTLINES. 53 

acquainting them with the unpleasant instructions of govern- 
ment. It was a part of the Governor's order that they were to 
remain at their several posts till replaced by the expected Fran- 
ciscans, then on their way to the country, when they should 
repair to Loretto, bringing with them only the most necessary 
articles. The instructions of the Governor also required them to 
preach to their flocks, exhorting them to obedience and sub- 
mission to the new order of things. Having faithfully executed 
the orders of their Superior, the Fathers started for Loretto. 
The scene witnessed through the country, as they parted with 
their respective congregations, has never- been equalled in the 
history of California. The loss of friends, relatives or parents 
could not evoke a greater expression of grief and affection. The 
remembrance of all that the Fathers had done for them, the 
blessings, spiritual and temporal, which they had conferred on 
them, now came strongly before the minds of the people, and 
produced the liveliest sentiments of sorrow and gratitude. 
Others, indeed, it is true, were coming to replace them, but they 
were strangers, and unacquainted with the language and man- 
ners of the people. At length the fatal moment arrived. On the 
same day, and about the same hour, all the Beligious, except 
those of Loretto, bid a farewell adieu to their^respective people. 
The impression made on the natives is best described in the 
words of one who took part in one of those scenes : ' The fatal 
day is come . All the people surround the altar in silence, to 
assist at the holy Sacrifice for the last time. The mass finished, 
the Father proceeds to the door to take a last farewell of his 
desolate children. At that moment all threw themselves upon 
him, kissing his hands and sobbing aloud, pressing him, at the 
same time, with such fervor, that he was well-nigh being 
smothered. On the other hand, the pastor gave expression to 
his grief in an abundance of tears, and knew not how to disen- 
gage himself from the arms of the people.' Thus, with hearts 
full of grief and eyes streaming with tears, these simple-minded, 
affectionate people parted with their Fathers, their guides and 
support. In other instances, their affection was expressed more 
convincingly. The pastor of the Mission of St. Gertrude, the 



54 OUK CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

Eev. Father Retz, being unable to walk or to ride, on account 
of an accident lie had met with a little before, the Christians, in 
order that he might not be disappointed in joining his brethren, 
bore him on their shoulders a distance of one hundred and 
twenty miles to the Mission of Loretto. 

" Arrived at that place, the Fathers lost no time in taking their 
departure. There were, in all, fifteen and a lay-brother, the exact 
number of those who had died in the country. The 3d of 
February was fixed for their departure ; but the Governor, fearing 
the impression that their departure might make on the people 
if conducted by day, ordered the embarkation to take place in the 
night. The precaution, however, was unavailing, for no sooner 
were they taken out than the whole town was astir. The simple 
announcement, ' The Fathers are going,' drew every one that 
was capable of moving to the spot. In vain would the soldiers 
endeavor to keep them at a distance. "With a common impulse, 
caused by love and grief, and which brooks neither delay nor 
hindrance, the entire multitude prostrated themselves on the 
ground before the assembled Religious, some giving expression 
to their sorrow and affection by kissing their hands and feet, 
others on their knees imploring pardon for their past offences; 
while others, still more ardent in their affection, pressed the 
Fathers tenderly in their arms as they wished them a lasting and 
parting adieu. This painful spectacle at an end, the missionaries 
addressed their last words to the people. They were short but 
impressive: 'Adieu, dear Indians; adieu California; adieu, land 
of our adoption: fiat voluntas Dei.' Then, amid the tears, the 
sobs and lamentations of the multitude, the fifteen Jesuit Fathers, 
reciting aloud the Litany of the Blessed Mother of God, turned 
their face from the land of their labors, banished by orders of a 
monarch whose only reason for expelling them from his domin- 
ions were the imaginary crimes laid to their charge by the • 
enemies of religion. Thus, on the 3d of February, 1768, were 
lost to California the presence and labors of that noble and 
devoted body of men, who, during the comparatively short period 
of their missionary career, had converted the whole of Lower 
California from Cape San Lucas to the mouth of the Colorado." 



The Commemoration. 



The Centennial Celebration, oil Sunday, October 
8th, 1876, may be truly described as a memorable 
event in the annals of the commercial metropolis of 
California. It was, indeed, fitting that the one hun- 
dredth anniversary of San Francisco should awaken 
solemn memories, mellowed by sympathy for the 
departed soldiers of the Cross who had, despite many 
obstacles, vindicated the glory of their Seraphic founder 
and the self-denying purity of their Order on the 
shores of the Pacific: 

"Who hath not shared that calm so still and deep — 

The voiceless thought that would not speak but weep — 

A holy concord and a bright regret, 

A glorious sympathy with suns that set : 

"lis not harsh sorrow, but a tenderer woe, 

Nameless but dear to gentle hearts below. 

Felt without bitterness, but full and clear, 

A sweet dejection, a transparent tear, 

Unmixed with worldly grief, or selfish stain, 

Shed without shame, and secret without pain. 

Even as the tenderness that hour instills 

"When Summer's day declines along the hills, 

So feel the fullness of our heart and eyes 

When all of goodness that can perish dies! " 



56 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

Nor is it strange that orators the most distin- 
guished should proffer their homage at the shrine 
of Christian heroism and self-sacrificing devotion. 
Already the noblest intellects of England and France, 
albeit not in- communion with the Catholic Church, 
had recognized the services rendered to civilization 
by the Fathers of the Society of Jesus among the 
Indians of Paraguay; and it was happily reserved for 
our Centennial celebration to evoke a tribute of elo- 
quence not less spirit-stirring and sincere. Of the 
discourse delivered by his Grace the Most Keverend 
Archbishop of San Francisco, in which, in a spirit 
worthy of a former era of Christian oratory, the mitred 
son of St. Dominic, with all the fervor and genius of 
the Friars Preachers, dwelt upon the labors of the 
children of St. Francis, it is not for us to speak; nor 
is it necessary to indicate at length our admiration for 
the orations of Hon. John W. Dwindle and Gen. M. 
G. Vallejo, the representatives on the occasion of the 
Anglo-Saxon and Iberian races. The martial pagean- 
try, apart from the magnificent civic demonstration, 
and, above all, the religious ceremonies — supreme, it 
need scarcely be said, in grandeur, and breathing, amid 
soul-thrilling strains and clouds of incense, with a 
sublime significance and a solemn purpose — was 
not the least splendid feature of the event. If, 
indeed, some nationalities in our cosmopolitan city 
were unhappily absent from the array, the blood 
of America, Spain and Ireland was worthily repre- 
sented. In the same ranks marched shoulder to 
shoulder the descendants of the Conquistadores of 



THE COMMEMORATION. 57 

Old Spain, the Pioneers of the Eastern States, and 
the sons of the Catholic Island of the "West ; and for 
the first time since O'Neil, O'Donnell, Blake, O'Reilly, 
O'Donoju — the last Viceroy of the Spanish crown in 
the New World — and unconquered Wellington, led, 
as Captains-General, the forces of Spain on many a 
field of fame, soldiers of Spanish blood were mus- 
tered under the baton of an Irish Grand Marshal. 

It is not too much to say that, viewed in every aspect, 
that celebration of the Founding of the Presidio of 
San Francisco and the Mission Dolores was not 
unworthy of the event which it commemorated. 
Although the dawn was overcast and broke over the 
green hills somewhat inauspiciously — spiritualizing, 
mayhap, the ordinarily bright skies of our favored 
clime — the genius loci seemed, as it were, to shine 
through the gloom, and to invest the festal occasion 
with a halo. At the Old Mission grounds on the 
corner of Sixteenth and Dolores streets* consecrated 
by the labors and watered by the tears of the heroic 
sons of St. Francis whose blood has crimsoned the 
sands of the Pacific, the celebration was inaugurated 
with a grandeur and solemnity befitting so important 
an anniversary. The exercises commenced with a 
Grand Pontifical Mass at 10 o'clock A. M., the Right 
Rev. Dr. O'Connell, Bishop of Marysville, officiating 
as celebrant. Beneath a tasteful gothic arch, adorned 
with ferns, ivy, clematis and wreaths of flowers and 
tropical plants, the temporary altar was erected. Rev. 
Dr. Cassidy of Mission San Jose officiated as Deacon, 
the Rev. Father Garriga as Sub-Deacon, and the 
3* 



58 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

Very Kev. Father Gibney, Vicar-General, as Assistant 
Priest. "Within the rail presided his Grace the Most 
Rev. Archbishop of San Francisco, attended by the 
Rev. Fathers McSweeny and Richardson. The Rev. 
Fathers Bowman and O'Connor acted as Masters of 
Ceremonies. Among the ecclesiastics present, in 
addition to the secular clergy, were representatives 
of the Orders of St. Francis, St. Dominic and the 
Society of Jesus: Very Rev. Father Vilarrasa, O. P., 
Rev. Father Derham, O. P., Rev. Father Harring- 
ton, O. P., Rev. Father Di Marzo, O. P., Rev. 
Father Callaghan, O. P., Rev. Father Alvarez, O. S. F., 
of the Franciscan College of Santa Barbara, and 
Rev. Father Varsi, S. J., of Santa Clara College. On 
the right of the altar were the Grand Marshal, James 
R. Kelly, and his Aids; on the left, his Excellency 
William Irwin, Governor of California; Hon. A. J. 
Bryant, Mayor of San Francisco; Hon. T. B. Shan- 
non, Collector of the Port of San Francisco; Hon. 
John M. Coghlan, United States District Attorney; 
Major-General Vernon and Staff; Brigadier-General 
McComb and Staff; Supervisors Macdonald, Roberts 
and Hayes; City and County Attorney Burnett; School 
Director Ames; the Spanish, Russian, Portuguese, 
Chilean and Costa Rican Consuls; D. J. Oliver and 
D. T. Murphy, Knights of the Order of St. Gregory; 
as well as many prominent citizens. Upwards of 
5,000 people were present. The choir consisted of 
an orchestral band and an admirably trained male 
and female chorus, under the direction of Professor 
Wm. Toepke, organist of St. Mary's Cathedral; the solo 



THE COMMEMORATION. 59 

singers being Miss Kate Eishon and Mrs. E. Uhrig, 
sopranos; Mrs. Wm. Toepke and Mrs. O. Borreman, 
altos; Messrs. Bianchi and Morell, tenors; and Messrs. 
Borreman and Doscher, bassos. Beethoven's Mass 
in C was excellently rendered, as well as the Offertory 
Ave Maria, by Loretz. At the Elevation, the military 
presented arms amid the roll of drums and the swell 
of martial music. At the conclusion of the Gospel 
his Grace the Most Bev. Archbishop advanced from 
the altar to the front of the platform occupied by the 
choir, and stated with regret that the sermon promised 
by the Bight Bev. Bishop Grace, of St. Paul, Min- 
nesota, would not be delivered, owing to the unex- 
pected illness of that revered Prelate. His Grace 
added that, instead of the sermon in question, he 
would himself address those present, first in English, 
and subsequently in Spanish. The Archbishop then 
delivered the following discourse : 

The Archbishop's Address. 

Deaely Beloved: This is indeed a day of joy and exulta- 
tion, both to the citizens of San Francisco, and, in a certain 
sense, to those of the whole State of California, especially to 
the children of Christian light, for to-day we celebrate the Cen- 
tennial of the Foundation of this Mission, and of this vast me- 
tropolis of the Pacific Coast. If our illustrious nation has justly 
been celebrating with rejoicing the Centennial of its existence, 
and the other nations of the world have been admiring the 
gigantic steps with which our Republic has advanced in a hundred 
years towards every kind of progress, with equal right and joy 
we are solemnizing to-day the hundredth anniversary of the 
existence of San Francisco as a civil and religious community, 



60 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

because we are especially interested in the establishment and 
prosperous duration of its double edifice, the foundations of 
which were laid in this place by our forefathers a hundred years 
ago. 

A Centennial maybe likened to a prominent, elevated spot, on 
which the traveller loves to rest, not only to cast a glance at the 
distance gained, but also to view the balance of his journey, and 
pursue it with fresh vigor. Thus, our Centennial affords us the 
pleasure of admiring the noble deeds of our ancestors, and the 
opportunity of encouraging ourselves to follow the course of a 
true civilization, and of our real and permanent interests . O thers 
may perhaps speak of the Presidio of San Francisco developing 
itself in these last years into a great capital ; they may assign to 
it in the near f u ture a prominent place among the cities distin- 
guished not less for their wealth and magnificent edifices, than 
for their artistic and literary talent. I will endeavor to limit my 
few words to religious recollections, inspired not only by the 
present festival and hallowed spot, but also by particular persons 
that have come to take part in the celebration ; for we have in 
our midst the children of St. Ignatius, St. Francis and St. Dom- 
inic, the first Christian pioneers of both Californias, and we 
now occupy the same place occupied a century ago by other min- 
isters and other people, guided by the same end, and undertak- 
ing the same work which we now have on hand — the true 
happiness of man through the code of the Gospel. The 
spiritual soldiers of Loyola had already amazed the kings 
of Castile and Aragon, when, few in number and with no 
other resources than their breviary and their apostolic 
charity, they conquered what the invincible Cortez and the 
Spanish armadas had not been able to subdue. By their 
charity and patience they had gained the hearts of the wild 
tribes of Lower California, and with arduous and apostolic labors 
they had established sixteen Missions in that peninsula. Sad 
human vicissitudes had already determined that the sons of St. 
Francis, and, soon after, those of St. Dominic, should succeed to 
the charge of these Missions; when a magnanimous heart, a great 
priest, a zealous apostle, desirous of the good of souls and of 



THE COMMEMORATION. 61 

enriching them with the real treasures of Christian faith, the 
Very Rev. Father Junipero Serra, President of the Franciscan 
Missionaries, willingly offered to come with his fellow-laborers 
'to found establishments of religion and Christian beneficence in 
this, our California. This country had never before been in- 
habited by civilized man; no one could vouch for his safety in it; 
no one had known of its fertility and immense mineral treasures. 
But it was known to them that in it there were souls created by 
the Almighty, redeemed by His divine Son, who, buried in the 
darkness of Paganism, had never seen the rays of the Christian 
light; and this was enough to induce them to undertake the 
great sacrifice of exiling themselves to these unexplored shores, 
ignorant whether it would cost them their lives, but certain that 
it would subject them to numberless privations and arduous 
labors. It is easy for us now to come and live in this land, 
already well known for the benignity of its climate, the fertility 
of its soil, its precious treasures, its magnificent edifices in- 
habited by persons of cultivated manners; but who can suffi- 
ciently appreciate the greatness of the sacrifice of those Fran- 
ciscan Missionaries, who, guided by the spirit of Padre Junipero, 
or rather by that of apostolic charity, came first to live in this 
unknown country, among a barbarous people, t who might, per- 
haps, repay their heroic sacrifices with ingratitude or even a 
fatal arrow ! Yet they knew that the Son of God had not 
promised his Apostles any other reward in this world than that 
of being allowed to drink of the chalice of His passion for the 
benefit of man . Animated with such apostolic sentiments, those 
religious men came to our California, and having established the 
Mission of San Diego in 1769, and that of Monterey in 1770, 
they turned their attention to the foundation of the Mission of 
San Francisco. 

And here I may mention the curious fact that the beautiful 
Bay of San Francisco was singularly discovered by land, under 
the auspicious exploits of the missionaries; for it had ever re- 
mained veiled to all European eyes, notwithstanding the various 
vessels which had periodically passed in front of the Golden 
Gate. Some had inclined to the opinion that Sir Francis Drake 



62 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

had entered our port toward the close of the sixteenth century; 
but it is generally held as correct, what Humboldt and De Mofras 
assert, that the port visited by Drake was that of Bodega, or the 
one bearing his name around La Punta de la Reyes. The first 
Europeans that ever saw our magnificent bay were those who 
composed the missionary expedition which came overland from 
San Diego, about the middle of July, 1769, to examine the 
already known port of Monterey; during which it happened that 
after the exploring party had passed the place now known as La 
Soledad, instead of turning west to their left, in the direction of 
Monterey, they continued their journey northwest, until they 
found themselves in full view of the Bay of San Francisco. 

But the Mission of San Francisco was not founded until the 
8th day of October, 1776. Three weeks before — namely, the 17th 
of the preceding September — the Presidio of this place had been 
founded with the usual formalities; and, according to the wishes 
and instructions of the Viceroy of Mexico, the Missionary 
Fathers, accompanied by the civil authorities of the Presidio, 
performed the memorable work of the foundation of the Mis- 
sion with all possible solemnity and formality; the account of 
which is given us by the faithful historian and eye-witness of 
the ceremony, the Rev. Father Palou, in the following words : 

"Being left alone with the three young men, the work of cutting timher 
was commenced in order to begin the construction of the chapel and houses 
in which to live. On the arrival of the vessel we already had sufficient 
timber, and with the help of some sailors furnished by Captain Qnirds, in 
a short time a house was built thirty feet long and fifteen wide, all of 
plastered wood, with its roof of tule, and, adjoining it, of the same mate- 
rials, a church was built fifty-two feet long, with a room for the sacristy 
behind the altar; and it was adorned in the best way possible with various 
kinds of drapery, and with the banners and pennants of the vessel. On the 
8th of said month, the Lieutenant having arrived the evening before, the 
foundation took place, at which assisted the gentlemen of the vessel, with 
all the crew (except those necessary to guard the vessel), as well as the 
commander of the Presidio, with all the soldiers and people, retaining in 
the fort only the most necessary. I sang the Mass, with ministers, which, 
being euded, a procession was formed, in which was borne an image of our 
Seraphic Father, St. Francis, the patron of the Port, of the Presidio and of 



THE COMMEMOKATION. 63 

the Mission. The solemnity was celebrated with repeated salutes of fire- 
arms, and the swivel-guns which had been brought over from the vessel for 
the purpose, as also by the firing of rockets." 

Thus, a hundred years ago, on this spot, with solemn Mass and 
festive procession, with holy blessings and the Te Deum, the 
standard of the Cross was elevated, the law of the Gospel was pro- 
claimed, the work of conversion and civilization of the gentiles 
was solemnly inaugurated. 

I should now beg leave to examine the means adopted by our 
forefathers to accomplish the noble object wfflcli they proposed 
to themselves, or rather the general system and special laws en- 
acted and executed by our Christian ancestors, for the Christian 
civilization — the temporal and eternal welfare of the Indians. 
In order to have an affair of such magnitude duly attended to, 
the Spanish crown had constantly attached to its court 

A EOTAL COUNCIL, 

Composed of men distinguished for their wisdom, prudence and 
rectitude. This Council was especially devoted to the welfare of 
the Indians; and to that end it was guided by a special provision 
in the last will and testament of Queen Isabella "the Catholic," 
which deserves to be written in letters of gold. In that order 
she declares that, in taking possession of the islands and lands of 
the ocean, her principal intention was ' ' to endeavor to induce 
and bring the inhabitants thereof and to convert them to our 
Holy Catholic faith, and to send to said islands and continent 
prelates and religious clergymen, and other persons learned and 
fearing God, in order to instruct the inhabitants thereof in the 
Catholic faith, and to teach them good morals, and to pay all the 
attention to that. I beseech my lord, the King, most affection- 
ately, and I charge and command the Princess, my daughter, 
and the Prince, her husband, that they perform and fulfill that, 
and that this be their principal aim, and bestow much care to it; 
and that they never consent to tolerate that the Indians and 
inhabitants of those islands and continent, discovered or to be 
discovered, receive any injury in their persons or property, but 
that they enjoin that they may be well and justly treated, and 



64 OUK CENTENNIAL MEMOIB. 

that they remedy any wrong which they may have received. ' ' It 
is not possible that Blackstone, the celebrated English jurist, in 
laying down the laws of equity which should guide princes in 
their conquests of American countries and peoples, may have 
studied them in the Testament of Isabella ; yet, no doubt, he was 
guided by the principles of right embodied in the ancient digests 
of Christian jurisprudence, when he established the maxim, that 
" European princes, or their subjects, by coming to occupy the 
soil of the Gentile natives, did not thereby become the owners of 
their lands, and tMt if the object of bringing them to Christian 
civilization gave them some right, this was not that of seizing 
their lands, but that of buying them first with preference to 
others." 

This is the principle which prevails throughout the Code of the 
Becopilacion de Leges de 'Indias. For, ir> the first place, it is 
obvious that in those laws the rights of the Indians to their lands 
are clearly respected according to the prescriptions of the Code, 
which direct that the assignment of lands to Spaniards be made 
without injury to the Indians, and that such as may have been 
granted to their injury or inconvenience be restored to them to 
whom they rightfully belong. The same is established by the 
following law : 

" We ordain that the sale, benefice and composition of lands be made in 
a manner that to the Indians be left in abundance all such as may belong to 
them, both as their individual and their community lands." 

And in order that the Indians might be better protected in 
their rights to lands, and might not easily lose them by selling 
them without close reflection, it was prescribed that they could 
not sell their lands except before a magistrate ; and that even 
after the sale they might rescind the contract within thirty days 
and retain their lands, if they wished; and that if the lands of 
the Indians had been occupied by others, even for the space of 
nine years, they should be restored to them . It is also decreed that 
the settlers be not allowed to establish themselves near the lands 
of the Indians, or to have near them cattle which may injure 
their crops; and should this injury accidentally occur, the 
Indians must be fully compensated, besides their perfect 



THE COMMEMORATION. 65 

liberty to kill any cattle doing them any injury. And although 
it was deemed necessary for the civilization and welfare of the 
Indians to induce them to form towns while cultivating their 
lands, having in them their church and instruction, and their 
own magistrates, the statutes provide that besides their houses 
and gardens in the towns, they should retain their right to other 
lands belonging to them; and that when they would change 
domicile, and would freely move to other places of their own 
will, the authorities should not prevent them, but should allow 
them to live and remain in them, it being at the same time for- 
bidden to force them to move from one place to another. In 
their towns they were to be induced to practice some trades, 
business or employment suitable to them, particularly agricul- 
ture; and in order that they should not be molested, it was rigor- 
ously forbidden to the Spaniards to dwell in their towns; and in 
a special manner it was also forbidden to sell or give them wine, 
arms, or anything which might injure them or bring them to 
trouble. 

It is also worth considering what such a Code enacts in regard 
to their wars. Instead of keeping them in subjection with rigor, 
or punishing them with severity in their rebellious commotion, 
we find that the Emperor Charles V. enjoins^ on all viceroys, 
judges and governors, that if any Indians would rise in rebellion, 
they ought to strive to reduce them and to attract them to the 
royal service with mildness and peace, without war, theft or 
deaths; and that they must observe the laws given by him for 
the good government of the Indians, and good treatment of the 
natives, granting them some liberties if necessary, and forgiving 
them the crimes of rebellion committed by them, even if they 
were against His Imperial Majesty and royal service. And 
should they be the aggressors, and being armed, should they 
commence to make war on the peaceable settlers and their towns, 
even then, the necessary intimations should be made to them 
once, twice and three times, and more, if necessary, until they 
be brought to the desired peace. 

The same Code contains many enactments regarding the good 
treatment of the Indians; for instance, it recommends to all the 



66 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

authorities, and even to the viceroys, the care of providing for 
them, and of issuing the necessary orders that they be protected, 
favored, and overlooked in their failings, in order that they may 
live unmolested and undisturbed, seeing to the severe punish- 
ment of the transgressors molesting them. It especially charges 
the Attorneys-General to watch particularly over the observance 
of the laws enacted for their instruction, protection, good treat- 
ment and prosperity, while it is provided that they may have in 
their towns their own Mayor and Supervisors, elected by them- 
selves, and that an official, high in dignity, should visit, among 
others, the towns of the Indians at least every three years, and 
see that they be not ill-treated in anything. Finally, for their 
greater protection, it was decreed by the King that there be 
protectors and defenders of the Indians ; that these be prudent 
and competent men, and that they perform their duties with the 
Christian spirit, disinterestedness and prompt attention with 
which they are obliged to assist and defend them. 

Consequently, there can be no doubt that this precious Code 
of the Becopilacion reflects throughout the true spirit of 
Christian charity to which the Indians are entitled, as the 
aboriginal owners of their lands, and as men created by the same 
God who made us, ransomed by the same Redeemer that saved 
us, and destined, like all others, to the same heaven. But, it 
may be said that, notwithstanding the spirit of Christian civiliza- 
tion pervading the Code, its laws were frequently disregarded, 
and the Indians had much to suffer from the Spanish settlers. 
Be that as it may, there can be no doubt that most, if not all, of 
the Spanish monarchs were sincerely anxious, and took proper 
measures to see the natives of America protected and attracted 
to Christian civilization. This is particularly true of Queen 
Isabella, in whom, Prescott observes, the Indians found an 
efficient friend and protector. Then, the immense distance 
intervening betweeen the colonies and the Mother Country must 
have naturally prevented the vigorous enforcing and perfect 
observance of the laws; yet the same author tells us that Car- 
dinal Ximenes' eye penetrated to the farthest limits of the mon- 
archy. He sent a commission to Hispanola to Inquire into and 



THE COMMEMORATION. 67 

ameliorate the condition of the natives. And, when the natives 
■were oppressed, there were not wanting some Las Casas, who 
bravely espoused 

THE CAUSE OV THE OPPBESSED, 

Frequently crossed the Atlantic to acquaint the Crown with the 
real evils, made the halls of kings ring with their loud and elo- 
quent appeals in behalf of the Indians, secured just measures, and 
obtained visitors and protectors to examine and redress the 
wrongs. It was, no doubt, due to such measures and vigilance 
that the Indians were not only preserved, but frequently ad- 
vanced to a comparatively good state of civilization. One of the 
latest writers on Our Continent, Mr. Charles Mackay, observes 
that ' ' in Mexico and South America they still thrive . " " They, ' ' 
says Sothern, " enjoyed for many generations a greater exemp- 
tion from physical and moral evil than any other inhabitants of 
the globe." " We were exceedingly struck," says Stephens, on 
the descendants of the Caribs, ' ' with the great progress made 
in civilization by these descendants of cannibals, the fiercest of 
all Indian tribes." Throughout South America, millions of the 
natives have been preserved and considerably advanced to the 
knowledge and manners of Christian civilization, under the in- 
fluence of good laws and Christian instructors, while nine-tenths 
of the people of Mexico have been similarly benefited. 

But to return to our California and our Missions. It is pleas- 
ing to find in their fresh records that, within a very short time, 
many missionary establishments were erected, and thrived, each 
being directed by two Franciscan Fathers, under whom numerous 
tribes of Indians were daily instructed in the lessons of Chris- 
tianity; some easy trades were practised, large tracts of land 
were tilled, luxurious orchards and vineyards gladdened the 
country ; and the whole coast, from Sonoma to San Diego, was alive 
with countless herds of cattle of every description. There were 
then no hotels in the country; each Mission was situated some 
forty miles from the nearest one, and afforded hospitable entertain- 
ment to travellers, who could go with perfect safety from one end 
of the country to the other. The twenty-one Missions were so 



68 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

many patriarchal settlements or communities of Indians, each 
ranging from 1,500 to 2,500, each individual working for all, all 
working for each, and all enjoying peace and plenty. In 1834, the 
crops of the twenty-one Missions came up to 122,500 bushels of 
grain, while the head of horned cattle belonging to the same 
numbered 424,000, all for the exclusive benefit of the inmates of 
those Missions, which numbered at that date 30,600 souls, truly 
blessed with plenty, but still more blessed on account of their 
acquired habits of industry, their daily Christian instruction and 
the practical lessons of morality constantly inculcated to them. 
Well may California be proud of her heroic, disinterested Chris- 
tian pioneers, who in a short time transformed numberless bar- 
barous tribes into comparatively well-civilized Christian commu- 
nities; and well may we echo to-day with sweet strains of joyous 
melody the solemn Te Deum intoned here for the first time one 
hundred years ago. 

In conclusion, let me pray that the Mission of the Fran- 
ciscans — the establishing of Christianity in this country — may 
ever prove successful, and that our prosperous city may ever be 
favored with God's choicest benedictions, which will be the case 
if its citizens will be guided by the Christian counsels inau- 
gurated here a century ago. Christian principles will insure peace 
and happiness, and good moral Christian lives will keep the 
state of society in a sound and prosperous condition. The code 
of the Gospel is the code of the sovereign legislator, who has an 
absolute right to enforce it, who demands our humble submis- 
sion to it, and who has declared that on our compliance with its 
provisions depends our happiness, temporal and eternal. It is 
obvious that we shall not witness the next Centennial here ; but 
I hope and pray that we all may see it from on high, celebrated 
here again with Christian spirit and becoming solemnity. 

After divine service a procession was formed of the 
various civic and military organizations and citizens 
anxious to participate in the celebration. The " ad- 
vance, *' consisting of a platoon of mounted police 



THE COMMEMORATION. 69 

and six trumpeters of the United States Army, also 
mounted, was led by James R. Kelly, Grand Marshal, 
with regalia of white and yellow scarf, gold stars and 
fringe, American shield, red, white ancf blue rosettes, 
hat trimmed with gold lace cord and acorns, gold stars, 
white and black plume. The Chief Aids of the Grand 
Marshal were Hon. John Hamill and Hon. John M. 
Burnett, with regalia of red scarf, gold stars and 
white fringe, red, white and blue rosettes, red and 
white plume; and the Chief of Staff, P. J. Sullivan, 
with regalia of red and white scarf, trimmed with gold 
stars and fringe, and red plume. The Aids, with 
regalia of white scarfs, trimmed with blue and silver, 
red, white and blue rosettes and white plumes, were: 
A. H. Loughborough, J. T. Ryan, Daniel Sheerin, 
John H. Blaney, Hon. Michael Hawkins, Dr. L. Paw- 
licki, F. X. Kast, John Sullivan, J. J. O'Brien, John 
Kelly, Jr., J. P. Landers, Jeremiah F. Sullivan, "W. 
T. Ryan, Stephen McGillan, John Reynolds, Nicholas 
Sweeney, Louis S. Kast, Denis Mahoney, James 
Regan, Wm. Sullivan, P. J. Sullivan, M. C. Hassett, 
William Bamber, John B. Lewis, John Shea, L. Ryan, 
Carroll Cook, H. Gadsby, John Fitzgerald, Thomas 
Kearney, Dr. F. A. A. Belinge, M. J. Kast, Michl Kane, 
M. D. Connolly, P. J. Tobin, Mathew Sullivan, Ed- 
ward Patten, Bernard Patten, Patrick Gallagher, J. 
W. McCormick, Frank Rielly, Alfred R. Kelly: 0. 
Curtin, Thomas Pendergast, W. D. O'Sullivan, 
Peter Mulloy, P. H. Mclnerny, Charles B. Mahon, 
Henry Wempe, B. Dryer, James Badger, Eugene 
Hughes, Nicholas Wynne, Isidro Yelazco, John Hill, 



70 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

P. J. Thomas, M. Byrne, Edward J. Buckley, 
Vincent Buckley, J. F. Sullivan, W. T. Sullivan, W. 
A. Plunkett, H. A. Owen, John F. Reilly, David Land- 
ers, Chas. F. Hanlon, Patrick Cummins, Carlos 
Gaxiola, J. M. Tinoco, Eusebio Molera, Juan Cebrian, 
M. Noe, M. Short, Hon. Herman Ranken, Dr. Francis 
O'Kane, Martin J. Aguirre, Master Geo. Horan, Rob- 
ert Sullivan, Patrick Tobin, John L. Murphy, Denis 
Lynch, F. C. Belden, James Hatch, John C. McDon- 
nell, D. Sweeney, A. J. Griffith, T. J. Powers, Thomas 
D. Reardon, J. J. Donovan, P. F. Butler, James 
Brennan, M. J. Egan, Thomas J. Sheerin, J. B. Law- 
ton, J. J. McDonnell, John O'Kane, Martin Quinlan, 
P. G. Galpin, J. H. Dougherty, J. M. Harrald, J. J. 
McKinnon, Wm. J. Boerman, Aug. Tillman, D. M. 
Dunne, Thomas McGrath, John Dalton, Thomas D. 
Riley, T. J. Reardon, Charles Duane, Wm. Higgins, 
David L. Mahoney. 

The procession moved on in the following order: 

First Division. — Military Escort; Colonel Wason, Command- 
ing. Major P. K. O'Brien and Staff; First Battalion Cavalry, 
Second Brigade, Qi. G. C; Lieutenant William Corcoran; Pay- 
master Fitzpatrick; Surgeon, Dr. Stewart; Q. M. Second Lieut- 
enant James W. Collins; Adjutant, Lieutenant J. P. Eafferty. 
Jackson Dragoons, Captain Michael Greany, Commanding; 
Lieutenant E. McPhillips; Lieutenant J. Kennealy; Lieutenant 
P. F. McGrath. 

Third Infantry Regiment, N. G. C. — Colonel A. Wason; 
Lieutenant-Colonel M. C. Bateman; Major J. J. Conlin; Adju- 
tant P. J. Tannian; Quartermaster John Grant; Paymaster John 
T. McGeoghegan; Commissary J. G. McGuire; Surgeon Thomas 
Green; Chaplain Rev. Thomas Larkin; Sergeant-Major Con. 
Donohoe; Quartermaster Sergeant Joseph Wallace; Co. A, Mont- 



THE COMMEMORATION. 71 

gomery Guard, Captain Charles Quinn; Co. B, Shields Guard, 
Captain M. J. "Wrin; Co. H, McMahon Grenadier Guard, Captain 
J. H. McMenomy; Co. D, Meagher Guard, Captain D. Sullivan; 
Co. C, Wolf Tone Guard, Captain T. Fitzpatrick; Co. E, Emmet 
Life Guard, Captain Bobert Cleary. 

Second Division. — Marshal, Wm. D. O'Sullivan; Begalia, 
Blue scarf, trimmed with gold stars and fringe and rosette; 
Aids, Kobert Sullivan and Edward J. Buckley; Begalia, same as 
General Aids, but with red plumes ; Four-horse Barouches, con- 
taining Governor Irwin, President of the Day; Major-Gen. Ver- 
non and staff; Brigadier-Gen. John McComb and staff; Bep- 
resentatives of the U. S. Government; Hon. J. M. Coghlan, 
District Attorney; Hon. T. B. Shannon, Collector of the Port; 
Gen! O. H. La Grange, Sup't U. S. Mint; Gen. Coey, Post- 
master; Wm. Sherman, U. S. Assistant Treasurer, B. Tobin, Jr., 
and others. Orators — Hon. John W. Dwindle, General M. G. 
Vallejo; Beader of the Poem, B. P. Oliver; Mounted Cadets of 
St. Mary's College, Mounted Cadets of Sacred Heart College, 
escorting Archbishop Alemany and Bishop O'Connell. Ba- 
rouches, containing State Officers, Mayor A. J. Bryant, 
Mayors of San Jose and other cities; Members of the Board of 
Supervisors; Members of the Board of Education; Foreign Con- 
suls; City and County officials; Invited Guests; California Pio- 
neers; Secretary P. A. Josephs; Beception Committee. 

Third Division. — Mounted Buglers; Beception Committee; 
Marshal, Isidr.o Velasco; Aids, Carlos Gaxiola, J. M. Tinoco; 
Escort, Spanish citizens, mounted, and Juarez Guard, Clergy, 
Societies and Congregation of the Church of Nuestra Senora de 
Guadalupe. 

Fourth Division.— Band; Marshal, P. J. McKenna; Aids, 
John Beddan, P. Donohue; Clergy, Societies and Congregation 
of Mission Dolores. 

Fifth Division. — Band; Marshal, Hon. Michael Hawkins; 
Aids, Vincent P. Buckley,. P. J. Tobin; Independent McMahon 
Guard, Captain Bryan, Commanding; Knights of St. Patrick; 
Sons of the Emerald Isle; Laborers' Protective and Benevolent 
Associations. 



72 OUK CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

Sixth Division — Ancient Oedee of Hibeenians. 

Band; State Officers; Thaddeus Flanagan, S. D., Marshal; 
Jas. F. Meagher, S. S., Assistant-Marshal; Henry Monahan, S. 
T., Assistant-Marshal. 

San Francisco County — J. J. Donovan, C. D.; John H. 
Gilmore, G. P.; Jas. Collopy, G. V. P.; John E. Donovan, G. S.; 
John J. Lane, G. A. S.; M. J. Crowley, G. T.; P. O'Day, P. D. 
"Winter, B. McHugh, Jas. McMenomy, Aids. 

Division No. 1. — Band; James Hogan, P.; John O'Kane, V. 
P.; T. W. O'Brien, R. S.; Jeremiah O'Brien, F. S.; William 
McLaughlin, T.; John J. Lane, P. McDermot, T. Ford, J. 
McCloskey, Aids. 

Division No. 2, — Band; Wm, Simpson, P.; B. McDermott, V. 
P.;M. C. Gorham, R. S.; John Killgariff, F. S.; C. O'Connor, 
T.; Jas. Cahill, Daniel Sheerin, M. Reilly, Jas. Collins, Aids. 

Division No. 3. — John Gallagher, P,; Thos. M. Connolly, V. 
P.; M. O'Meara, R. S.; Thos. Flood, F. S.; Chas . Farrelly, T.; 
F. McCarthy, C. Farrelly, J. Linehan, Aids. 

Division No. 4.— Thos. Kendrick, P.; T. D. Sullivan, V. P.; 
James Guilfoyle, R. S.; P. McGuigan, F. S.; Wm. Deeny, T.; 
Michael Murray, Charles Field, Michael Connell, John Clifford, 
Aids. 

Division No. 5.— John Gurry, P.; P. J. Carr, V. P.; L. Flan- 
agan, R. S.; James McDermott, F. S.; John Curran, T. ; P. J. 
Carr, M. Linehan, M. Maher, Aids. 

Division No. 6. — Michael Hogan, P.; D. Monahan, V. P.; 
John Judge, R. S.; Patrick Rush. F. S.; Thomas Donnelly, T.; 
Thomas Donnelly, M. McFeeley, M. McCall, Aids. 

Division No. 7.— E. W. McCarthy, P.; James W. Gillen, V # 
P.; Alphonse Murphy, R. S.; James H. Bellew, F. S.;M. g! 
Sears, T.; J. Barry, P. Kearney, Aids. 

Division No. 8.— John Kenny, P.; D. J. Delay, V. P.; Thomas 
Flynn, R. S.; W. M. Gillespie, F. S.; P. Canavan, T.; C. T. 
Butler and C. B. McHugh, Aids. 

Division No. 9.— J. M. Dwj-er, P.; John H. Ryan, V. P.; 
Joseph W. Maher, R. S.; John F. Meagher, F. S.; Geo. 'Con- 
ner, T.; Thos. Mulvey and Robert Davis, Aids. 



THE COMMEMOBATION. 73 

Solano County. — John Noonan, CD. 

Division No. 1, Vallejo — Michael O'Keefe, P.; John Hollo- 
way, V. P.; Jas. A. Kane, B. S.; Edward Champion, F. S.; John 
E. Kennedy, T. 

Santa Clara County. — John Paine, CD. 

Division No. 1, San Jose — Denis Corkery, P.; Michael Nihill, 
V. P.; Thomas Ourran, E. S.; J. S. Curran, F. S.; John 
McQuaid, T. 

Division No. 2, Santa Clara — John Cotter, P.; Patrick Gra- 
ham, V. P.; Peter Carroll, B. S.; Andrew Dempsey, F. S.; L. C. 
Flynn, T. 

Division No. 3, Gilroy — Jas. Herbert, P.; Jno. Shanahan, B. 
S.;Wm. Fitzgerald, F. S. ; Michael Casey, T. 

Marin County. — Peter Brunty, CD.; Michael Coughran, G. 
P.; Edward Brady, G. and P.; John Leahy, G. S.; 0. McDonald, 
G. A. S.;P. Mulraney, T. 

Division No. 1, San Bafael — John Murray, P.; Bernard 
Eeilly, V. P.; Michael Dunleavy, B. S.; Charles Moran, F. S.; 
Thomas Gordon, T. 

Division No. 2, Tomales — John Carroll, P.; John McGinty, 
V. P.; J. D. Connolly, B, S.; Bobt. Mulreanyr F. S.; James 
Fields, T. 

Alameda County. — Patrick Mnllan, CD.; S. C Cronin, G. 
P.; Patrick Smith, G. V. P. ; John Coyle, G. S.; Patrick Cole- 
man, G. A. S.; Patrick Donohue, G. T. 

Division No. 1, Oakland. — Patrick Murphy, P.; John Brazil, 
V. P. ; Jas. Leonard, B. S. ; John Bryan, F. S. ; Eugene Lynch, T. 

Division No. 2, Oakland. — James Keys, P. ; Patrick McQuade, 
V. P.; John Fitzsimmons, B. S.; C Mulvey, F. S.; Patrick 
Kearney, T. 

Division No. 3, Livermore — John Began, P . ; John Connolly, 
B. S.; Patrick Croke, F. S.; Patrick Callahan, T. 

Seventh Division.— Band; Marshal, J. J. O'Brien; Aids, Hon. 
Herman Banken, Hon. P. G. Galpin; St. Joseph's Benevolent 
Society of St. Mary's Cathedral; St. Joseph's Society of Oak- 
4 



74 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

land; Band; St. Mary's T. A. B. & L. Society; St. Mary's T. A. 
B. Society; St. Aloysius Society; Clergy and Congregation of 
St. Mary's Cathedral. 

Eighth Division. — Band; Marshal, W. A. Phmkett; Aids, S. 
Ryan, August Tillman; St. Joseph's Benevolent Society of St. 
Francis' Church; Clergy and Congregation of St. Francis' 
Church. 

Ninth Division. — Band; Marshal, Col. Peter Donahue; Aids, 
John O'Kane, William Hawkins, F. Wally; St. Patrick's Cadets, 
Capt. Hanlon, commanding; Boys of St. Patrick's Sunday 
School, D. E. Kelly, commanding; St. Patrick's Temperance 
and Benevolent Society; Clergy and Congregation of St. Patrick's 
Parish. 

Tenth Division. — Band; Marshal, B. Dryer; Aids, H. "VVempe, 
L. S. Kast; St. Peter's Benevolent Society; St. Paul's Benevolent 
Society; Clergy and Congregation of St. Boniface Church. 

Eleventh Division. — Marshal, J. F. Sullivan; Aids, James 
Hatch, Edward Patten; Sodality of the B. V. M.; Student 
Sodality B. V. M.; Clergy and Congregation of St. Ignatius' 
Church; Visiting Delegations from Country Parishes — Vallejo, 
Benicia, Stockton, San Jose, Santa Clara, etc. 

Twelfth Division. — Band; Marshal, Edward Dunphy; Aids, 
Edward Durkin, P. Molloy; St. Josexm's T. A. and Benevolent 
Society; St. Joseph's Library Society; Clergy and Congregation 
of St. Joseph's Parish. 

Thirteenth Division. — Band; Marshal, Denis Mahoney; Aids, 
J. P. Landers, J. T. Ryan; St. Bridget's T. A. and Benevolent 
Society; Marshal, T. H. Gallagher; Aids, Jas. Farley, P. Hayes; 
Clergy and Congregation of St. Bridget's Parish; Marshal, 
Captain Ashwell; Aids, J. Reynolds, T. J. Sheerin; St. John 
Baptist's Society; Clergy and Congregation of St. John's Parish. 

Fourteenth Division. — Band; Marshal J. J. Moore; Aids, A. 
B. Maguire, Owen Daily, M. Quirk; St. Peter's Catholic T. A. 
and Benevolent Society; Clergy and Congregation of St. Peter's 
Parish. 

Fifteenth Division. — Marshal, Daniel Sheerin; Aids, Dr. L. 
Pawlicki, Charles F. Hanlon; Citizens Mounted; Citizens in 
Carriages. 



THE COMMEMOEATION. 75 

At the command of the Grand Marshal the trum- 
pets sounded the advance, and the procession moved 
along Dolores to Sixteenth street, thence to Valen- 
cia, Market, and Kearny streets, and the old Plaza, 
now beautified by ornamental trees and shrubbery, 
and known as Portsmouth square. The countermarch 
was by the right to Market, Eighth, and the Mechanics' 
Pavilion on Mission and Eighth streets. At this point 
the procession was reviewed by the Grand Marshal, 
who, subsequently, on entering the Pavilion, intro- 
duced his Excellency the Governor of California as 
President of the Day. At least eleven thousand 
persons were assembled in the vast hall. Every 
seat on the floor and in the galleries was occupied, 
besides all standing room within a radius of the 
balcony. The Spanish, Mexican and South Ameri- 
can elements were largely represented in the im- 
mense throng, which was graced by the presence o^ 
many members of the clergy of the Province. There 
were present in the orchestra, among other prominent 
citizens, his Grace the Most Rev . Archbishop Alemany, 
the Eight Rev. Bishop O'Connell, of Marysville, his 
Honor Mayor Bryant; Hon. John W. Dwindle and 
General M. G. Yallejo, the orators of the occasion, 
County Judge Selden S. Wright; D. J. Oliver and 
D. T. Murphy, Knights of the Order of St. Gregory; 
Hon. Thomas B. Shannon, Collector of the Port of 
San Francisco, W. C. Burnett, City and County 
Attorney, Camillo Martin, Consul of Spain, Senor 
Casanueva, Consul General of Chili, SefLor Tinoco, 
Consul of Costa Rica, Col. Peter Donahue, Gustave* 



76 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

Touchard and Seiior de Fossas. Suspended from the 
gallery above the orchestra was the portrait of Father 
San Francisco Solano, belonging to the Pioneer 
Society. The painting in question, which represents the 
Missionary in the habit of a follower of St. Francis 
de Asis, with a crucifix in one hand and a violin in 
the other, has been pronounced a genuine one, having, 
it is stated, been executed in 1770, on the day when 
the Mission at Carmel was founded, by Don Cristo- 
val Diaz, Chaplain of the ship San Carlos, which con- 
veyed the explorers from Mexico to the then terra in- 
cognita of Upper California, and was the first vessel 
of the Spanish settlers to enter the Golden Gate. 
The music was rendered under the direction of Pro- 
fessor Toepke, organist and conductor of tffe choir 
of St. Mary's Cathedral. Although, in consequence of 
the pressure of time, the programme was not strictly 
%dhered to, the military bands and an orchestra of 
twenty-five performers, aided by a well-trained choir 
of more than a hundred boys from the Sacred Heart 
and St. Mary's Colleges — institutes which owe their 
wide fame and prosperity to the rare ability, refined 
scholarship and indomitable energy of the Kev. 
Brother Justin, Superior of the Brothers of the Chris- 
tian Schools in California — gave general satisfaction. 
The following selections were performed : Two marches 
by the band; " Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean;" 
a sparkling composition by Lambillotte, the choral 
and orchestral effects of which told grandly; and the 
ever-welcome " Star-Spangled Banner." The pro- 
ceedings at the Pavilion were fitly opened by the 



THE COMMEMORATION. 77 

Grand Marshal, James R. Kelly, who, in well-chosen 
and graceful terms, congratulated all who had parti- 
cipated in the celebration, that the day fraught 
with glorious recollections had passed off so auspi- 
ciously, and that upon an occasion so memorable, the 
Chief Magistrate of the Golden State and his Grace 
the Archbishop of San Francisco were present. His 
Excellency the Governor said : 

" We are assembled here to commemorate the planting of this 
Mission in San Francisco. One hundred years ago, where this 
great city now stands, was seen nothing but a bleak waste of 
sandhills and chaparral, without inhabitants, unless a few abo- 
rigines be taken into account. On the site where this Misaioh 
was founded has sprung up our great city, which is one of the 
great cities of commerce on the American continent, and may be 
regarded as both a focal and brilliant point of intelligence and 
power in the entire world. When I speak of San Francisco as a 
centre of commerce, as a seat of a civilized power, I repeat what 
has become axiomatic, and what every intelligent man now recog- 
nizes. You number to-day perhaps 250,000; it may be more than 
that; but the position of this great city in the* economy of the 
world is destined to be of the greatest importance; and perhaps 
its position will ultimately give it a greater influence in 'the world 
than any other centre of population now in existence. The 
connection between the date of the planting of this civilization 
and the Centennial year which now assembles us for com- 
memoration, affords a pleasant task for the orators who have 
been selected for this occasion; and with reference to them I 
hardly need observe that they will discharge their duty well 
and eloquently. Before taking my seat, I wish to state that 
Bishop Amat, of Monterey and Los Angeles, sends greeting to 
the people of San Francisco, and expresses his regret that his 
infirm health has prevented him from being with us on this 
occasion. He has, however, deputed the Bev. Hugh P. Gallagher 
to represent him . " 



78 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

The subjoined Poem, written by Miss Harriet M, 
Skidmore, was then read by B. P. Oliver: 

'Tis well to ring the pealing bells, 

And sing the joj-ous lay, 
And make this glad Centennial year 

One gleeful gala-d:iy. 
For Freedom's sun, that floods the land 

With Summer's golden glow, 
Dawned brightly on the night of gloom, 

One hundred years ago. 

And, dwellers in this favored land, 

Beside the Western sea, 
Be yours an added thrill of joy, 

A two-fold jubilee ! 
For (sweet and strange coincidence I) 

The bright benignant glow 
Of Faith dispelled a deeper gloom 

One hundred years ago! 

All honor to our noble sires, 

The tried and true-souled band, 
Whose valor loosed the Gordian knot 

That bound their native land; 
Who crushed the tyrant's haughty host 

And laid his standard low, 
And bade the starry banner wave, 

One hundred years ago t 

All honor, too, and deathless fame, 

Unto the brown-robed band 
Whose hands released from fetters dread 

Our glorious Golden Land; 
Who gained a bloodless victory 

Against the demon foe, 
And lifted high the Cross of Faith, 

One hundred years ago 1 

The sons of Francis journeyed far, 

From wave- washed Monterey, 
To labor where his saintly name 

Had blessed our shining Bay. 



THE COMMEMOEATION. 79 

And well those holy toilers wrought 

To bid Faith's harvests glow, 
And Truth's sweet vineyards ripen fair, 

One hundred years ago ! 

Nor San Francisco saw alone 

That fondly toiling hand — 
Their Missions blessed full many a spot 

"Within our favored land. 
And Peace divine, at their behest, 

Here arched her sacred bow 
From North to South, from East to "West, 

One hundred years ago I 

And not alone one chosen clime 

Obeyed their meek eontrol— 
In Earth's remotest realms they wrought 

To tame the savage soul. 
From many a land that wondrous band 

Had chased the fiendish foe, 
Long ere they won sweet conquest here, 

One hundred years ago ! 

How blessed the children of the wild 

Beneath their gentle sway ! 
Not theirs the harsh command that bids 

The trembling slave obey; 
Not theirs the stern, despotic tone* 

The tyrant's cruel blow; 
By love, the meek Franciscans ruled 

One hundred years ago ! 

Ah ! well the ransomed savage loved 

The kind paternal care, 
That, with his simple joy could smile, 

And in his sorrows share; 
That could the blest baptism give — 

The Bread of Life bestow — 
And cheer the darksome vale of Death, 

One hundred years ago. 

"Within the rude adobe shrine, 

What holy calmness dwelt ! 
How fervent was the savage throng 

That round its altar knelt 1 



80 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR, 

How lowly bowed the dusky brows 
When, through the sunset glow, 

Rang out the sweet-toned Angelus, 
One hundred years ago ! 

Pure, Eden-like simplicity, 

Forever passed away ! 
For o'er the Missions came at last, 

A fierce tyrannic sway — 
A sacrilegious hand could dare 

To strike with savage blow, 
The band that brought Salvation's boon 

One hundred years ago ! 

But we, who know how rich the gift 

That holy land bestowed' 
Upon the land where stranger hosts 

Since made their fair abode — 
Aye, we who hail the beams of Faith, 

In radiant, noonday glow, 
Will fondly bless the dawn that rose 

One hundred years ago ! 

O Sovereign City of the West, 

Enthroned in royal state, 
Where bows the Bay its shining crest, 

Within thy Golden Gate, 
Thou'lt ne'er forget, though o'er thy heart 

Vast, living currents flow, 
The herald-steps that trod thy soil, 

One hundred years ago! 

And though the lofty steeples rise 

From many a sunlit hill, 
Where, through the air, at dusk and dawn, 

The sweet bell- voices thrill, 
Thou'lt fondly prize thy Mission shrine— 

For o'er its portal low, 
First rose the Cross, and rang the chime, 

One hundred years ago ! 



THE COMMEMORATION. 81 

Hon. John "W. Dwinelle delivered, amid frequent 
bursts of applause, the oration which follows: 

Excellent Governor, 

Illustrious Archbishop, 

Reverend Clergy, 

Ladies and Gentlemen : 

*• One hundred and seven years ago, in the year seventeen 
hundred and sixty-nine, the compact territory which now con- 
stitutes the great body of the United States might have been 
thus described, for general purposes : 

A tract bounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the northern lakes and 
the Mississippi River, with the Spanish peninsula of Florida 
lying at the southeast. A portion of Mexico, called Upper Cali- 
fornia (Alta California), extending northward from the latitude 
of San Diego along the Pacific Coast toward the uncertain 
boundary of the British Provinces above Oregon, and with a 
contested boundary on the east. Between the two, and 
bounded by each, abutting upon the Gulf of Mexico on the 
south, including the present State of Louisiana and the im- 
mense tract west of the Mississippi, a vast wedge-shaped 
territory belonging to the King of Spain, but afterwards trans- 
ferred to France. 

CALIFORNIA ONE HUNDRED TEARS AGO. 

One hundred and seven years ago, in the year 1769, California 
was a desert wilderness. Its coasts had been explored by Span- 
ish navigators, who had given names to its prominent points, 
but throughout its vast territory, more than 800 miles in extent 
from south to north, there was no cabin or tent of the white 
man, no vestige of his presence, no physical trace of his exist- 
ence. The bay of San Francisco, the most marked and marvel- 
lous feature in the northwestern line of the continent, had not 
been discovered. A delusive cloud generally brooded over the 
entrance of the Golden Gate, like the magic mist obscuring the 
entrance to the treasures of an oriental fable. Even Sir Francis 
Drake, who, in the year 1578, after having committed piratical 
*4 



82 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

plunder upon the Spanish galleons bearing the treasures of the 
kings of Spain from Manilla to Acapulco, fled to the north, hoping 
to escape the vengeance of his pursuers by finding and navigating 
a northeast passage to the Atlantic Ocean, sailed ignorantly 
across the vast volume of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers, 
discharging themselves into the ocean athwart the very keel of 
his caravel, and whose existence, if known to him, would have 
suggested to him that he had found the overland water passage 
of which he was in search. 

COLONIZATION BEGUN. 

Precisely one hundred and seven years ago, in the year 1769, 
the colonization of California had its beginning; but it was a 
religious, and not a civil or political colonization; and its origin, 
aims and results are to be treated as the work of the Koman 
Catholic Church. As a Protestant, with my fellow Protestants, 
I come here to-day, not to sing fulsome praises to the Koman 
Catholic 'Church, but to render her a due meed of honor. When 
we speak of modern colonization, the idea generally presents 
itself to us of a settled, civilized State, gradually exceeding its 
geographical boundaries and absorbing what lies beyond them. 
But ancient colonization did not advance by any such gradual 
processes. When Rome established colonies in territory con- 
quered from Apulia or Gaul, she sent out a procession of citi- 
zens and officers, who took possession of the new territory in the 
name of the parent State, whose exact image they endeavored to 
reproduce on the spot. So, when Greece sent her colonists to 
Magna Graecia or to Sicily, the new institutions were presumed 
to be cast in the pattern of the old, and to resemble them as 
children resemble their parents, or rather as twin children 
resemble each other. The customs of Spain preserved all these 
formalities, and devoted the soil to the new colony with acts of 
equal solemnity. 

THIS COLONIZATION WAS BY RELIGIOUS MISSIONS. 

The motive of the colonization of California was not civil, 
but religious. Its plan was not so much to bring citizens into 



THE COMMEMORATION. 83 

California, as it was to convert the native savages of California 
into Christians, afterwards into citizens, with organized civil 
institutions, and then leave them in possession of the conquered, 
civilized and Christian territory; the Missions converted into 
villages, or Pueblos, and the Mission churches into parochial 
churches. These Missions, thus established to civilize the 
Indians, were to be "fortified against hostile incursions by military 
posts established on the coast, called Presidios, and have a pattern 
and a moral support in villages or Pueblos, composed of married 
soldiers and white colonists from the main land of Mexico. The 
religious character of this colonization is most emphatically and 
accurately described in the following language of Hon. Alpheus 
Felch, one of the first Judges on the United States Land Com- 
mission in California: 

THE MISSIONS INTENDED TO BE TEMPORARY. 

"The Missions were intended, from the beginning, to be tem- 
porary in their character. It was contemplated that in ten years 
from their first foundation they should cease. It was supposed 
that within that period of time the Indians would be sufficiently 
instructed in Christianity and the arts of civilized life to assume 
the position and character of citizens ; that these Mission settle- 
ments would then become Pueblos, and«that the Mission churches 
would become Parish churches, organized like the other establish- 
ments of an ecclesiastical character in other portions of the 
nation where no missions had ever existed. The whole missionary 
establishment was widely different from the ordinary ecclesiasti- 
cal organization of the nation. In it the superintendence and 
charge was committed to priests who were devoted to the special 
work of Missions, and not the ordinary clergy. The monks of 
the College of San Fernando and Zacatecas, in whose charge 
they were, were to be succeeded by the secular clergy of the 
National Church, the Mission to give place to a Bishop, the 
Mission churches to become curacies, and the faithful in the 
vicinity of each parish to become the parish worshippers." 



84 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

JESUIT MISSIONS IN LOWEE CALIFORNIA. 

The Jesuits were the first to take charge of this work in Lower 
California, as far back as the year 1683. In the year 1707 they had 
colonized with Missions, aud Christianized all that peninsula. 
But in that year the King of Spain carried into execution a secret 
resolution that on a certain day he would expel all the Jesuits 
from his dominions. This act reached the Jesuit missionaries 
in Lower California. At the concerted day and hour the Gov" 
ernor appeared at the Missions in Lower California, and sum- 
moned the missionaries to his presence, to surrender the Mis- 
sions, together with their reputed treasures of gold and silver. 
His behest was answered by a few gray-haired old priests, bear- 
ing the marks of the toil and poverty which they shared with 
their Indian converts, who accompanied them, with tears and 
lamentations, to the ships which bore them away into banish- 
ment, like convicted criminals. 

UPPEE CALIFORNIA SURRENDERED TO THE FRANCISCANS. 

The final result of this harsh procedure was that the Missions 
of Lower California were surrendered to the Dominicans, while 
the virgin field of Upper California was yielded to the Francis- 
cans. This could not have been done at a more fortunate junc- 
ture. Father Junipero Serra, at that time President of the Fran- 
ciscans in California, was a man of fervent piety, indomitable 
will, irrepressible energy, and unconquerable fortitude, all which 
qualities were concentrated into one purpose, ir d la conquista — 
to conquer souls to the dominion of the Church. Under his 
auspices the Mission of San Diego, the first settlement made by 
the whites in California, was effected on June 16th, 1769, and 
that of Carmel, at Monterey, on June 3d, 1770, together with two 
Presidios at the same points. But the establishment of these 
two Missions and Presidios of San Diego and Monterey, with the 
consequent support which they gave to the pious labors of the 
missionaries, did not satisfy these devoted men. Father Juni- 
pero Serra, the founder and first President of the Franciscan 
Missions of Upper California, and the real conqueror of this 



THE COMMEMOEATION. 85 

region, with that pious zeal for the salvation of souls which 
prompted him ever to go on with the conquest (ira la conquista /) , 
represented to the Marquis de la Croix, the then Viceroy of 
Mexico, that it was a reproach to Catholic Christianity that there 
was no Mission dedicated to San Francisco de Asis, the founder 
and patron of the Order which bore his name. There was a 
tradition among the old native Californians that the Viceroy re- 
plied : " If our Father San Francisco wants a Mission dedicated 
to him let him show us that good port up beyond Monterey, and 
we will build him a Mission there!" Long before this there was a 
report coming down from the early navigators, that on the north- 
western coast, about a hundred miles north of Monterey, there 
existed a large bay, through which large volumes of fresh water 
were poured into the sea by rivers flowing from an unknown dis- 
tance in the interior. But later explorers had not been able to 
find this entrance, and in the time of the Marquis de la Croix the 
Bay of San Francisco had become to be considered quite as 
apocryphal as Psalmanazar's island of Formosa, or the Antarctic 
Continent of Commodore Wilkes in our day. It was therefore 
with a feeling of prayerful humorousness that the Viceroy invoked 
the aid of Saint Francis in the discovery of this concealed 
harbor. Father Junipero, however, took the Viceroy at his word, 
and, by a land expedition sent from Monterey in 1772, happily 
established the existence of the Bay of San Francisco, which was 
afterwards explored by competent engineers, entering from the 
sea, and to which the name of San Francisco, the founder of his 
Order, became permanently affixed. 

THE FRANCISCANS COME TO SAN FRANCISCO. 

Father Francisco Palou, who, with Father Benito Cambon, 
was the monk that founded the Mission of San Francisco, thus 
continues the narrative, in his life of Junipero Serra : 

"The bay of San Francisco having been re-discovered, the 
then Viceroy of New Spain — the Marquis de la Croix — thereupon, 
by an order dated November 12th, 1775, gave directions for the 
foundation of a Fort, Presidio and Mission upon the Bay of 
San Francisco. The colonists, with their cattle and the necces- 



86 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

sary provisions for the journey, were to come by land from Mon- 
terey, while the rest of the equipments was sent from the same 
port by sea. 

" The said overland expedition left the Presidio of Monterey 
on the appointed day, 17th of June, of said year of 1776. It was 
composed of the said Lieutenant commanding, Don Jose Moraga, 
one sergeant, and sixteen soldiers clad in leather armor — all 
married men with large families, of some followers and servants 
of the same, of herdsmen and drovers who drove the neat stock 
of the Presidio, and the pack-train with provisions and neces- 
sary equipage for the road, the rest of the freight being left for 
the vessel which was about to sail. And, as regards the Mission, 
we, the two missionaries above named, joined the party with two 
young men, servants for the Mission, two neophyte Indians of 
old California, and another of the Mission of San Carlos, for the 
purpose of trying whether he could serve as an interpreter; but 
as the idiom was found to be*a different one, he served only to 
take care of the cows that were brought for the purpose of rais- 
ing a stock of cattle. The said expedition came on towards this 
port." 

The land expedition arrived first, and encamped at a pond 
called Dolores, a short distance east of the present site of the 
Mission. This spot was known as the Willows, in 1849 and 
afterwards, and was graded and filled in about ten years ago, 
occupying most of the tract enclosed by Seventeenth, Nineteenth, 
Valencia, and Howard streets. The incidents of the re-discov- 
ery of the Bay of San Francisco, and those attending the expe- 
ditions sent out for its colonization, are very interesting; but we 
have no time to narrate them in detail. 

THE MISSION OF SAN FRANCISCO FOUNDED, OCTOBER 8TH, 1776. 

As soon as the expedition arrived, the missionaries commenced 
their labors. The registers of baptisms, marriages and burials, 
which they began, bear date on the first day of August; but the 
Presidio was not founded until the 17th day of September, nor 
the Mission until the 8th day of October, 1776. Among* the 
customs of Spain, none was more rigid than that which required 



THE COMMEMORATION. 87 

public acts to be executed with the greatest notoriety and official 
formality. Even a distinguished military officer, like Coronado, 
must execute a public, official, notarial act when he charged him- 
self with a commission to explore a desert country, and discharge 
himself by an act of equal solemnity when he made his report. 
So, when a Town or Mission was founded by the Spaniards, they 
fixed the site and the day by the official celebration of solemn 
and authentic acts. And until these acts were performed, the 
historical facts thus authenticated did not exist; the town, its 
name, its site, had not yet been determined; for intentions might be 
abandoned, plans changed, the whole project fail. As, among 
the Greeks and Komans, the new colony was founded by tracing 
out with a furrow the proposed limits of the suburbs; by erect- 
ing the statue of its tutelar deity; by the scattering of corn, and the 
pouring out of oil and wine; so, with equal solemnity, but with 
a higher purpose and deeper religious sentiment, on the 8th day 
of October, 1776, the pious missionaries planted the Cross at the 
Mission of Dolores, chanted the first mass, and consecrated its 
soil to Christianity and civilization. As they then intended that 
the Mission which they thus founded should become the future 
Town, and as they chose that date for the performance of the 
official act which gave a birth, a name, and a practical existence 
to our city, we must accept their choice, and date the anniversary 
of our foundation from the 8th day of October, 1776. On that 
day, and by that act, the Mission church, the orchards, and the 
cemetery became the property of the Catholic Chtjech, by a title 
which is far the oldest title to land in the city; it completes its 
first century to-day. 

DESCRIPTION OF A MISSION. 

The following description, given by a contemporary, M. Duflot 
de Mofras, will give a very accurate notion of the missionary 
establishments : 

"The building is a quadrilateral; the church occupies one of its wings; 
the facade is ornamented with a gallery. The building raised some feet 
above the soil, is two stories in height. The interior is formed by a court. 
Upon the gallery which runs around it, open the dormitories of the monks, 
of the overseers and of travellers, small work-shops, school-rooms and 



88 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

store-rooms. The hospitals are situated in the most quiet part of the Mis- 
sion, where the schools also are kept. The young Indian girls dwell in the 
tialls, called the nunnery, and they themselves are called nuns. Placed 
under the care of Indian matrons, who are worthy of confidence, they learn 
to make cloths of wool, cotton and flax, and donot«ieave the nunnery until 
they are married. The Indian children mingle in the schools with those of 
the white colonists. A certain number, chosen among the pupils who dis- 
play the most intelligence, learn music, chanting, the violin, the flute, the 
horn, the violoncello, and other instruments. Those who distinguish them- 
selves in the carpenter's shop, at the forge, or in agricultural labors, are 
appointed overseers, and charged with the direction of a squad of workmen. 
The administrative body of each Mission consists of two monks, of whom 
the elder has charge of the interior and of the religious instruction, and the 
younger of the agricultural works. In order to maintain morals and good 
order in the Mission, they employ only so many whites as are absolutely neces- 
sary, for they well know that their influence is pernicious, and that an asso- 
ciation with them developes among'the Indians those habits of gamblingand 
drunkenness to which they are unfortunately too much inclined. The regula- 
tions of each Mission are the same. The Indians are divided into squads of 
laborers. At sunrise the bell sounds the Angelus, and every one sets out for 
the church. After mass they breakfast, and then go to work. At 11 they 
dine, and this period of repose extends to 2 o'clock, when they return to labor 
until the evening Angelus, one hour before sunset. After prayers and the 
rosary, the Indians have supper, and then amuse themselves with dancing 
and other sports. Their diet consists of fresh beef and mutton, as much as 
they choose; of wheat and corn cakes, fruits, and of boiled porridges called atole 
and pinole. They also have peas and beans — in all, the twelfth part of a 
bushel a week. For dress, they have a linen shirt, pantaloons and a woolen 
blanket; but the overseers and best workmen have habits of cloth like the 
Spaniards. The women receive every year two chemises, a gown and a 
blanket. When the hides, tallow, grain, wine, oil and other products, are 
sold at good prices to ships from abroad, the monks distribute handkerchiefs, 
wearing appearel, tobacco, chaplets and glass trinkets among the Indians, 
and devote the surplus to the embellishment of the churches, the purchase 
of musical instruments, pictures and sacerdotal ornaments. Still, they are 
careful to keep a part of their harvest in the granaries to provide for years 
of scarcity." 

SUCCESS OF THE MISSIONS. 

The immediate results of the Mission scheme of Christianization 
and colonization were snch as to justify the plans of the wise 
statesmen who devised it, and to gladden the hearts of the pious 
men who devoted their lives to its execution. At the end of 



THE COMMEMORATION. 89 

sixty-five years, (in 1834), the missionaries of Upper California 
found themselves in possession of twenty-one prosperous Mis- 
sions, planted upon a line of about seven hundred miles, run- 
ning from San Diego north to the latitude of Sonoma. More 
than thirty thousand Indian converts were lodged in the Mission 
buildings, receiving religious culture, assisting at divine worship, 
and cheerfully performing their easy tasks. Over seven hundred 
thousand cattle, of various species, pastured upon the plains, as. 
well as sixty thousand horses. One hundred and twenty thous- 
and bushels of wheat were raised annually, which, with maize, 
beans, peas, and the like, made up an annual crop of one hun- 
dred and eighty thousand bushels ; while, according to the cli- 
mate, the different Missions rivalled each other in the production 
of wine, brandy, soap, leather, hides, wool, oil, cotton, hemp, 
linen, tobacco, salt and soda. Of two hundred thousand horned 
cattle annually slaughtered, the Missions furnished about one- 
half, whose hides, hoofs, horns and tallow were sold at a net 
result of about ten dollars each, making a million dollars from 
that source alone. While the other articles, of which no definite 
statistics can be obtained, doubtless reached an equal value, mak- 
ing a total production by the Missions themselves of two million 
dollars. Gardens, vineyards and orchards surrounded all the 
Missions, except the three northernmost — Dolores, San Rafael, 
and San Francisco Solano — the climate of the first being too 
inhospitable for that purpose, and the two latter, born near the 
advent of the Mexican revolution, being stifled in their infancy. 
The other Missions, according to their latitude, were ornamented 
and enriched with plantations of palm trees, bananas, oranges, 
olives and figs; with orchards of European fruits; and with vast 
and fertile vineyards, whose products were equally valuable for 
sale and exchange, and for the diet and comfort of the inhabitants 
of the Missions. Aside from these valuable properties, and 
from the Mission buildings, the live stock of the Missions,, 
valued at their current rates, amounted to three million 
dollars of the most active capital, bringing enormous annual re- 
turns upon its aggregate value, and, owing to the great fertility 
of animals in California, more than repairing its annual waste by 



90 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

slaughter. Such was the great religious success of the Catholic 
Missions in Upper California; such their material prosperity in 
the year 1834, even after many depredations had been committed 
upon them. These Missions were not only prosperous, but they 
were self-sustaining. It is true that there was a fund in Mexico 
of the aggregate capital of two million dollars, called 

THE PIOUS FUND OF CALIFORNIA, 

Which, during a century, had been gradually built up by dona- 
tions from the children of the Catholic Church, and whose income 
was to be devoted to sustain the Catholic Missions in California. 
But the Missions never received any reliable assistance from 
that source ; the proceeds of the fund were systematically embez- 
zled; and finally, in 184-2, General Santa Anna, Provisional 
President of Mexico, by one bold, sweeping act of robbery, 
confiscated the whole fund. 

THE MISSIONS DOOMED TO EXTINCTION. 

I have already shown that the theory of the scheme upon which 
the Missions were constructed was, that in the course of ten 
years from their establishment, the Indian converts would be so 
far Christianized and instructed that they could assume the condi- 
tion of citizens, the Missions be converted into Pueblos or vil- 
lages, and the Mission churches into Parish churches. The pe- 
riod thus limited had now expired; but other causes existed to 
provoke the Executive Act by which the Missions were to be ex- 
tinguished. The prosperity of the Missions had excited the 
cupidity and rancor of private greed. The products of the Mission 
were crude, requiring but little alteration by any process of ma- 
nufacture or manipulation — such as hides, tallow, horns, pel- 
tries, wool, wine, brandy, oil, olives, soap, cotton and hemp — 
and it was easy to exchange them, twice a year, with the skippers 
who visited the coast in their trading voyages, receiving in 
return, in honest barter, the articles most needed by the Missions, 
and the balance in hard silver dollars, (pesos duros) . But this 
did not suit the views of a class of private traders who had estab- 
lished themselves at the ports of San Diego, Santa Barbara, 



THE COMMEMOKATION. 91 

Monterey and San Francisco, and at some other points, in the 
interior, who insisted that this exchange between the Missions 
and the sea merchants should pass through their hands, and pay 
them a profit, and who demanded, as a right for a forcibly inter- 
jected middleman, the same perquisities which the modern Gran- 
ger resists as an unnecessary tax. This new class of adventurers, 
characterized by the exuberance of their noses, their addiction 
to the social game called monte, and the utter fearlessness with 
which they encountered the monster aguardiente, were both 
constant and persistent in their denunciations of the monks who 
had charge of the Missions. They were accused of being avari- 
cious — these poor monks who had taken the vow of perpetual 
poverty. They were said to be indolent; they who roused them- 
selves at the morning Angelus — Summer and Winter- -to perform 
the services of the church ; and, after that, the arduous labors of 
the day; to whom the evening Angelus was only a signal that their 
evening task was only begun and not ended. 

THE RUIN OF THE MISSIONS ACCOMPLISHED. 

But the extinction of the Missions was decreed — first, by Act 
of Cortez of Spain in 1813; afterward by decrees of the Mexican 
Congress of 1828 and 1833. And so the whole system went down, 
and existed only in history. And then it appeared that the 
whole theory on which it had been built was a false one ; that 
the American Indian could not be converted into an independent 
citizen. Yet the benevolent and pious plan was not utterly barren 
of results. It was something, surely, that over 30,000 wild, 
barbarous and naked Indians had been brought in from their sav- 
age haunts; persuaded to wear clothes; accustomed to a regular 
life; living in Christian matrimony; inured to such light labor as 
they could endure; taught a civilized language; instructed in 
music; accustomed to the service of the church; partaking of its 
sacraments, and indoctrinated in the Christian religion. And this 
system had become self-sustaining, under the mildest and gentlest 
of tutelage; for the Eranciscan Friars, who superintended these 
establishments, most of whom were from Spain, and many of 
them highly cultivated men, statesmen, diplomatists, soldiers, 



92 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

engineers, artists, lawyers, merchants, and physicians, before 
they became Franciscans, always treated the neophyte Indians 
with the most paternal kindness, and did not scorn to labor with 
them in the field, the brick-yard, the forge, the tannery, 
and the mill. When we view the vast constructions of the Mis- 
sion buildings, including the churches, the refectories, the dor- 
mitories, the workshops, the granaries, and the rancherias, some- 
times constructed with huge timbers brought many miles on the 
shoulders, of the Indians, and look at the massive constructions 
at Santa Barbara, and the beautiful carvings and ribbed stone 
arches of the church of the Carmelo, we cannot deny that the 
Franciscan missionary monks had the wisdom, sngacity, learn- 
ing, skill, self-sacrifice, and patience to bring their neophyte 
pupils far forward on the road from barbarism to civilization, and 
that these Indians were not destitute of taste and capacity. 
It is enough that the Franciscan monks succeeded in all that 
they undertook to accomplish. It matters not that the Span- 
ish theory of the available capacity of the Americo-Indian races 
for final self-government and independent citizenship was a false 
one . After having shown that these people couid be Christianized 
and civilized by the attraction of kindness and the imposition of 
systematic, regular and easy tasks, while in a state of pupilage, 
the destruction of the Missions of California seems to have 
demonstrated the converse proposition that these are the only 
conditions of the proximate Christianization of these races. 
Such were the opinions which the Catholic priesthood, both 
regular and secular, had come to entertain, from the long 
experience of the missionaries in the two Californias — opinions 
which were shared by many of the most enlightened statesmen 
of Mexico. The political decrees which destroyed the Missions 
of California were ordained in the face of the remonstrances of 
the Roman Catholic Church. 

SURVIVAL OF THE MISSIONS AS PAROCHIAL CHURCHES. 

But although the Missions, as such, were destroyed; although 
the Mission system thus disappeared, and fhe body of the neo- 
phytes was annihilated in one general cataclysm of drunkenness» 



THE COMMEMORATION. 93 

mendicity and disease, still some results remained, which were 
worth all that they cost. Taking the number of 30,000 Indians 
who resided in the Missions at the height of their prosperity, and 
estimating the average life of the Indian as a short one, as it un- 
doubtedly was, «E calculate that during the sixty-five years of the 
prosperity of the Missions, no less than SO, 000 Christianized 
Indians were buried in the Campos Santos — the consecrated 
cemeteries. I estimate that during the last one hundred years 
no less than 20,000 whites, natives and foreign, were buried, as 
baptized Catholics, in the same holy soil. I know that during 
all this period the Mission churches filled the office of secular 
churches to the native and foreign white residents, and that when 
Protestants came into California, as emigrants, from England, 
Scotland, Germany and the United States, they almost always were 
baptized into the Catholic Church. And that when the Mission 
system reached its catastrophe, and the United States afterwards 
succeeded to the political dominion of Spain and Mexico, some- 
thing more remained, which had not died, arid which can never 
die. It was a series of Catholic churches, extending from San Diego 
to Sonoma, with the altars, the vestments and the paraphernalia of 
worship. It was the solemn registers of baptisms, marriages and 
burials, extending backward for a hundred years, and invoking 
the mysterious solemnity of religion upon those acts upon which 
repose domestic felicity, the security of property, and the 
hope of happiness beyond the grave. This was the possession 
which the secular church received in California — a possession 
which came to her by inheritance as the successor of those 
Missions over whose destruction she mourned. When the tide 
of emigration, originating from the discovery of gold in 1848, 
flowed in upon California, it found the Holy Eoman Catholic 
Church occupying the soil, into which she had become rooted by 
the providential events of the previous one hundred years. Of 
the twenty-three missions established in California by the Fran- 
ciscan monks, the sites of no less than nineteen, including the 
churches, orchards and cemeteries, have been confirmed in full 
ownership to the Roman Catholic Church by the authorities of 



94 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

the United States. These are the oldest, as they will be the most 
enduring, marks of civilization impressed upon the soil of Cali- 
fornia. 

THE EVENTS OF A HUNDRED TEABS. 

It was not without a purpose that I began this" address with a 
description of California as it existed in 1769 — one hundred and 
seven years ago. In that year, 1769, began those missionary 
settlements which resulted in the civilization of California. And 
about the same time commenced, on the Atlantic Coast, those 
political agitations which resulted in the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence on July 4th, 1776, and in the establishment of the 
American Kepublic. During the last one hundred years the 
United States of America have not only secured their own exist- 
ence, but have absorbed the territory of Spanish Florida, the 
American dominions of France and Spain lying north of the 
Gulf of Mexico, and the very territory of Old Spain on the 
Pacific which the Franciscan Friars had colonized with their 
Missions. 

Macaulay and Kanke, accepted historical critics, neither of them 
especially friendly to the Roman Catholic Church, are both of 
the opinion, that, after all the assaults and persecutions of the 
last three hundred and fifty years, she is stronger than she was 
in the time of Martin Luther. We will not go back three hun- 
dred and fifty years; but as we are now celebrating a centenary t 
we shall take the shorter period of one hundred years. 

ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO, 

Among all English-speaking races, the name and faith of the 
Eoman Catholic was proscribed. I do not know of any place 
where he could lawfully vote, or hold office, or exercise his faith 
Even in Maryland, he could not do this lawfully, but only co- 
lusively. In most places the laws were made for him by 
legislators whom he could have no hand in electing; who de- 
nounced him as an idolator; and who professed to hold him and 
his creed in abhorrence. In some places the son, by becoming 
an apostate, could anticipate his father's death, and enter upon 
his inheritance. 



THE COMMEMORATION. 95 

The Declaration of American Independence came, and with 
it the sentiment, incorporated into all subsequent National and 
State legislation, that the State has no concern with the private 
religious belief of the citizen. A hundred years have rolled by! 
The Great Democratic Empire is consolidated. It embraces in 
its territory the Spanish and French domain north and north- 
west of the Gulf of Mexico, the French Missions whose line 
extended from Detroit to New Orleans, and from St. Louis to 
the Columbia Kiver; the Franciscan Missions from San Diego to 
Sonoma. But it says to all of these, to every citizen, to the 
Catholic Church, the State has no concern with your religious 
belief. Under this new regime the State has let the Church alone ; 
not merely because it would, but because it must. The whole 
executive power of the 40,000,000 citizens of the United States 
cannot now seize a single Catholic priest, and ship him abroad 
as an expatriated criminal. All the legislative power of the United 
States cannot confiscate the stipend of the humblest Catholic 
missionary, nor sequestrate the revenues of the poorest Catholic 
Church. 

THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES TO-DAY. 

A hundred years ago how feeble was the Catholic Church in the 
United States! To-day how strong she is — strongest among the 
strong. A hundred years ago proscribed, her name a reproach! 
To-day, proud in the consciousness of her strength, her children 
are free to ask for every thing — to receive it. . They can be legis- 
lators, Governors, Senators and Judges ; one of them was Chief 
Justice of the United States for twenty-five years. And the 
example of the forty million citizens of the United States has 
not been lost upon other peoples. Is it not true that where the 
English language is now spoken, the Catholic Church is prac- 
tically free ? That, although there may be enactments against her 
on the statute books, they are in effect dead, and cannot be 
enforced ? 

THE TEUE BASIS OF HER MATERIAL PROSPERITY. 

Where is she stronger at this day than in the United States ? 
Where are her foundations broader, deeper, more solid ? Where 
are her hospitals, her convents, her colleges, her churches in a 



96 OUB CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

more flourishing condition ? And does this not demonstrate that 
her material strength lies in the law of voluntary contribution 
and in those free political institutions which " let her alone?" 

I believe that religion is necessary to the prosperity of the 
State. I believe that the world is more truly religious now than 
it was a hundred years ago. I believe that the Roman Catholics 
of California are more than compensated for all they have lost, in 
having their political destinies brought within the circle of the 
American Union. 

THE CONTRAST OP A HUNDRED TEARS. 

Behold the contrast! A hundred years ago to-day not fifty 
people were present when the foundation of the city of San 
Francisco was laid. To-day, thousands assist at the celebration 
of the hundredth anniversary of that event, and a million people 
may be said to be within reach of our voices. Then, there was 
absolutely no population. Now, there are upwards of 300,000. 
In another hundred years, of the estimated population of 
two hundred millions allotted to the United States, I cannot 
doubt that San Francisco will be the largest city on the Pacific 
Ocean, and that at least twenty millions will occupy territory 
ceded by Mexico to the American Union: nor can I doubt that on 
that territory the Catholic Church will maintain her comparative 
strength. 

THE NEXT HUNDRED TEARS. 

I have not, on this occasion, uttered a word in praise of the 
Holy Apostolic Roman Catholic Church. If I had been one of 
her sons, I should have given her such a tribute as full of gratis 
tude as of truth. But, as it is, this might seem like adulation, 
and she does not need to be patronized. Still less have I 
ventured to insult her children by apologizing for them that their 
faith differs from mine. But, Protestant as I am, I am not afraid 
to say that I rejoice in the strength and prosperity of the Holy 
Apostolic Koman Catholic Church ; and that when I predict that 
a hundred years from now she will be stronger than ever, and 
that her greatest strength will be in the United" States, it is 
because my heart goes with the prediction ; and when I consider 



THE COMMEMORATION. 97 

that she has been the mother of all modern civilization, and the 
foster-mother of all free political institutions, I devoutly invoke 
Almighty God that this great empire of freemen may empty into 
her lap the Horn of Plenty in its widest abundance. 

At the conclusion of Mr. Dwinelle's oration, Gen- 
eral Vallejo addressed the assemblage in the Spanish 
language, of which the following is a translation: 

Mr. President, 

Most Reverend Archbishop, * 

Ladies and Gentlemen : — 

Honored by the cordial invitation tendered me by the Board of 
Directors of the present celebration, through the most Reverend 
Archbishop Alemany, I present myself before you for the pur- 
pose of narrating, in a few but significant words, the history of 
the discovery, occupation and foundation of this Mission of our 
holy Father, San Francisco de Asis, a name which it has borne 
with dignity since the time it was so called by the indefatigable 
missionary, Father-President Junipero Serra and companions, 
in respect and veneration for the founder of their Seraphic Order. 

Would that I were possessed of the necessary ability to do 
justice to the merits of those men, to whom is due the civilization 
of so many thousands of souls, and of numberless others that 
will succeed them. 

But, if my incap'acity is great, my ardent desire to comply 
with the duty which has been imposed upon me, and which I 
have gladly accepted, is still greater. I only wish to ask your 
kind indulgence. 

I shall be as brief in my discourse as a subject of such great 
magnitude as this is will permit. Before, however, entering into 
the particulars of our present subject matter, I maybe permitted 
to give a condensed synopsis of the events by which this Port 
of San Francisco came into the possession of the Crown of 
Spain. 

In the years 1542 and 1543 the navigator Cabrillo sailed up 
and down the coast, and passed San Francisco without having 
determined anything but the formation of the coast line. 
5 



98 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

In 1578, Sir Francis Drake, an English buccaneer, anchored 
and remained a month, perhaps, in the small bay on the northern 
extremity of the ocean or open bay of the Farallones, at the 
same place which was called by us the Port of Tomales. Drake 
gave this latter bay his name, and the surrounding country he 
called New Albion. There is a bare possibility of Drake's enter- 
ing the present Bay of San Francisco, but the weight of evidence 
is against him. There is no doubt that it was in the Bay of 
Tomales that the vessel from China, called the San Ayustin, was 
sunk in the year 1595. It is beyond contradiction that the name 
of San Francisco was given to the bay at that time, on account 
of some circumstance unknown to us ; perhaps, in honor of the 
Patron Saint of the day on which the vessel arrived. 

It is an absurdity to suppose that there can be any connection 
between Sir Francis Drake and San Francisco, except in the 
imagination of some visionary geographer. Very little is known 
concerning the voyage; but the wreck of the San Agustin was 
afterwards brought by the currents into the Port of San Fran- 
cisco (the Golden Gate), and as far as Yerba Buena, at Clark's 
Point, where I was shown fragments of the same about two 
hundred years after (1830), by the veteran officer Don Jose 
Antonio Sanchez. 

In 1603 the Admiral Sebastian Vizcayno, having on board of 
his flag-ship one of the pilots of the San Agustin, sailed up and 
down the coast, stopping, without landing in the Bay of San 
Francisco (not the present one), which was that of Tomales, 
near Point Keyes. Vizcayno took very extensive and correct 
geographical observations; but the only copy of his chart in 
existence is made on such a small scale that very little informa- 
tion can be derived from it concerning this portion of the coast. 

In subsequent years several vessels from the Philippine Islands 
came down the coast on their way to Acapulco ; no mention, 
however, is made that any of them ever touched at any point on 
the coast of California, although it is certain that from the 
voyages in question we have notes concerning its coast. By 
some data obtained therefrom, and particularly from the obser- 
vations of Vizcayno, the first pilot of the Philippines, Don Jose 



THE COMMEMOEATION. 99 

Gonzales Cabrera Bueno, made several sea charts which, together 
with a theoretical Treatise on Navigation, was published in 
Manilla in the year 1734. This work gives a description of the 
coast from Point Keyes to Point Pinos with the same degree of 
accuracy as can be given in the present day, with the exception 
of what appertains to the Golden Gate and the unknown interior 
of the Bay of San Francisco. In it there is described perfectly 
the ancient bay of the same name, near Point Keyes, as the 
present one was not known at that time, and not discovered until 
thirty-five years later. 

On the 31st of 'October, 1769, the expedition from San Diego 
was the first that made explorations in California overland. In 
it came Portola, Bivera y Moncada, Fages and Father Crespi. 
They ascended the hills now called Point San Pedro (county of 
San Mateo), from whence they saw the bay of the Farallones, 
which extends from Point San Pedro to Point Beyes ; and they 
also noticed Cabrera Bueno 's bay of San Francisco, and the 
Farallones. On the 1st of November they sent a party to Point 
Beyes. On the 2d of the same month several hunters of the 
expedition ascended the high mountains more towards the east; 
and, although we have no correct information as to the names 
of those hunters, it is certain that they were the first white in- 
habitants who saw the large arm of the sea known at present as 
the Bay of San Francisco. The portion that was seen by them 
was that which lies between the San Bruno mountains and the 
estuary or creek of San Antonio (Oakland) . They discovered the 
Bay, unless the honor is accorded to the exploring party that 
returned on the 3d of November, who also had discovered the 
branch of the sea, by which they were prevented from reaching 
Point Beyes, and the primitive Bay of San Francisco. On the 
4th of November the whole of the expedition saw the newly dis- 
covered bay, and they tried to go around it by the south ; but not 
being able to do so, they returned to Monterey. The next ex- 
ploration had in that direction was made by Pedro Fages and 
Father Crespi, in the month of March, 1772, from Monterey ; and 
it was with the view of going around the arm of the sea reach- 
ing Point Beyes, and arriving at the Bay of San Francisco of 



100 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

of the first navigators. For greater accuracy in the description 
I am about to make, I ask permission to use the names by which 
the places through which they passed are known at the present 
day. 

Fages and Father Crespi started escorted by a guard of soldiers 
of the Company of Volunteers of Cataluna, and another from 
that of the '■' Cnera," or Leather coats. They arrived at Salinas 
river (to which they gave the name of Santa Delfina), crossed 
it. and, passing by the site upon which is now located Salinas 
City, they went over the hills and arrived at the place where the 
town of San Juan de Castro now stands. They continued their 
journey through the valleys known to-day as the San Felipe, in 
the immediate vicinity of Hollister. After this they crossed 
the Carneadero creek (known at present as Gilroy), ascended 
and crossed the small hills of Linares (Lomita de la Linares) 
and the dry lake known as the Eancho of Juan Alvirez; went 
over the gap of Santa Teresa, and entered the valley of Santa 
Clara, where are situated the cities of San Jose and Santa Clara, 
only separated from each other by the Guadalupe river . 

" Here," said Father Crespi, " is a magnificent place to found 
a Mission, because it possesses all the necessary resources: 
abundance of good lands, water, and timber, and a great many 
gentiles to baptize." Thence they continued along the eastern 
shores of the Bay, arrived at Alameda creek (Alvarado city, 
Vallejo's Mills and Centreville), followed along the Bay towards 
the north, crossed San Lorenzo creek (Haywards), thence to 
San Lorenzo, Oakland, San Pablo, El Pinole, Martinez, Pacheco, 
Suisun Bay, and crossed the San Joaquin river, at a point not 
far distant from Antioch. This was on the 30th of March. 

As the expedition did not possess the means of surmounting 
such obstacles as it met and reach Point Reyes, which was its 
objective point, it was determined to return to Monterey by a 
different route — that is, along the foot-hills of Mount Diablo. 
The President of the Missions having become fully convinced 
of the impossibility of establishing that of San Francisco im- 
mediately at its own port, as he lacked the means of transporta- 
tion by sea, and in order to proceed by land, additional explor- 



THE OOMMEMOEATION. 101 

ing parties were deemed necessary. He reported the failure of 
the expedition of Fages to the Viceroy of New Spain. The 
Viceroy gave orders to Captain Don Fernando Rivera y Mon- 
cada, who had been appointed successor to Fages in command of 
the Military Posts (Presidios) of New California, to make a second 
examination, for the purpose of discovering the most appropri- 
ate localities for the foundation of the Missions in project. At 
the same time, in his letters of the 25th of May, he calls upon 
Father Junipero to aid and assist the new commander and to 
occupy and establish Missions in the most convenient and suit- 
able places. 

Accordingly, having made the necessary preparations, Captain 
Rivera started from Monterey on the 23d of November, 1774, 
accompanied by Father Francisco Palou, an escort of sixteen 
soldiers, and some servants. They prosecuted their journey with- 
out having encountered any drawback as far as the valley of Santa 
Clara; but from there they went to the west of the Bay between 
its shores and the adjacent hills. Following the level plains in 
the said valley, they passed by Bay View, Mayfield, the Pul- 
gas, (Menlo Park,) Redwood City, Belmont, San Mateo, 
San Bruno and Laguna de la Merced, and reached Point 
Lobos. They crossed the ravines, and ascended the mountain 
whence they beheld the entrance to the Port of San Francisco, 
(the Golden Gate). On the 4th of December they planted the 
symbol of Christianity on the most elevated point close to where 
now stands the castle or fortification of the National Government, 
that is, on the southern portion of what forms the mouth of the 
said harbor; "on account of that being a spot upon which no 
Spaniard or Christian had yet trod," according to the narrative 
of Father Palou. 

That cross I saw myself, in the year 1829, having come to San 
Francisco on business pertaining to the military service. No 
location was at that time made, either for a garrison (Presidio) 
or Mission, as the severity of the winter months compelled the 
expedition to return to winter quarters at Monterey; and they 
verified it by going over the route that was taken by the expe- 
dition of 1769, which was by San Pedro, and Spanishtown, 



102 OUE CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

(Half Moon Bay), in the county of San Mateo, Point New 
Year, Santa Cruz City, Watsonville in Santa Cruz couuty, 
Pajaro City, Castroville, Salinas, and Monterey, which had 
been their starting point. 

In the year 1775, daring the months of August and -September, 
Captain Ayala entered the Bay of San Francisco, on board the 
packet-boat Son Carlos, this being the first historically authen- 
ticated vessel that sailed into that bay. He remained forty days 
and explored it in all directions. Captain Ezeta and Father Palou 
came up from Monterey as far as the place where Rivera and 
the same Missionary Father had planted the mentioned cross, 
but they did not find the crew of the Man Carlos. 

The next attempt to found a religious and military establish- 
ment at San Francisco proved successful. The Lieutenant-Col- 
onel, Don Juan Bautista de Anza, by orders from the Viceroy 
Fray Don Antonio Maria Bucarelli y Ursua, recruited soldiers 
and settlers (pobladores) in Sinaloa and gave them all the aid 
possible to facilitate their journey to their new homes in Upper 
California. Being all assembled at San Miguel de Orcasitas, 
(Sonora), they started upon their march on the 29th of Septem- 
ber, 1775, by way of the Colorado river, which had already been 
explored by the same Anza in another expedition. The colony 
was composed of thirty married soldiers and twelve families of 
settlers, which, together, formed a total of two hundred souls, 
who were to found and establish the new towns. Before the de- 
parture of this expedition by land in March, 1775, one ship 
and two packet-boats sailed for San Bias, taking on board 
XDrovisions and effects for the Missions and Presidios. Provi- 
dence favored the three vessels, which were successful in 
their operations. On the 4th of January, 1776, Lieutenant- 
Colonel Anza arrived at the Mission of San Gabriel with his ex- 
pedition. Urgent- business concerning the security of the es- 
tablishments in Southern California detained him there. By the 
12th of March, he had already reached the Mission of El Car- 
melo accompanied by the chaplain, Father Pedro Fout, and his 
escort. On the 22d of March, he set out on a journey to exam- 
ine the region of country of tnis port of San Francisco, and 



THE COMMEMORATION. 103 

arrived at the place where Father Palou, in accord with Captain 
Eivera, had planted the cross in December, 1774. Having exam- 
ined the locality well, Anza and the Lieutenant Don Jose Joa- 
quin Moraga decided that a garrison (Presidio) should be 
founded there, and that this subordinate officer should be the 
one to carry the project into execution. 

The expedition continued on their journey; and, according to 
Father Palou, upon arriving at the Bay, which was called "Las 
Lloronas," (the primitive name of Mission Bay), they crossed 
a creek by which a large lake is drained, which was called " De 
Los Dolores," and that site appeared to them as a suitable spot 
for a Mission which had to be founded in the vicinity of the new 
advanced military post (Presidio). They continued on their 
journey and went further North than the place where Fages and 
Father Crespi had been, and then returned to Monterey. 

On the 17th of June, 1776, the expedition of soldiers and 
families from Sonora started from Monterey. The military 
force was commanded by Lieutenant : D on Jose Joaquin Moraga; 
it was composed of one sergeant, two corporals and ten or 
twelve soldiers, with their wives and children. There were also, 
in the party, seven families of resident settlers, five servants, 
muleteers and vaqueros (stock herders,) who took care of 200 
head of cattle belonging to the King and private individuals. 
This is concerning the new garrison. In what appertains to the 
Mission, I will say that there were Fathers Francisco Palou 
and Pedro Benito Cambon, two servants and three neophyte 
Indians, one of whom was from the Mission of San Carlos, and 
the two others from Old California, these having 86 head of 
cattle in their charge. 

The expedition took the same route as that of 1774, and arrived 
safely on the 27th of the same month at the Lake of Dolores, 
where it had to wait for the packet-boat San Carlos, to determine 
upon the location of the garrison and fort. Meantime, it occupied 
itself in exploring the surrounding country. On the 28th, the 
Lieutenant ordered an Euramada, a hut made of branches of 
trees, to be made, which might serve as a chapel for the purpose 
•of celebrating Mass; and it was in it that the first Mass was said, 



104 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

on the 29th, which was the feasi of the glorious apostles Saints 
Peter and Paul. The Fathers continued celebrating in the 
same "Euramada," every day until the garrison (Presidio) was 
established near the landing place, where good water could be 
obtained and the land was appropriate. I said good water, as 
subsequent experience proves it to be excellent and possessing 
some marvelous qualities. In proof of my assertion, I appeal 
to the testimony of the families of Miramontes, Martinez, 
Sanchez, Soto, Briones and others, all of whom had wives that 
bore twins upon several instances; and public opinion attributes, 
not without reason, these wholesome results to the virtues 
of the waters of the ' ' Polin, ' ' which still exists. The exploration 
remained a whole month encamped awaiting the arrival of the 
ship, during which time the soldiers and settlers were busy cut- 
ting timber in order to gain time. 

The month having expired without the packet-boat making its 
appearance, the commander, Moraga, determined to make over 
to the spot which he had in the course of his explorations 
selected as more appropriate for the new garrison (Presidio). 
This he did on the 26th of July, and all hands went to work and 
made barracks out of " Tule," which might serve them as places 
of shelter. The first barrack that was built was dedicated to 
serve as a chapel, and the first Mass was celebrated by Father 
Palou on the 28th. But, by order of Lieutenant Moraga, there 
remained near the Lake de los Dolores the two missionary 
priests and servants, with the stock and everything else appertain- 
ing to the Mission — all under the immediate protection of six 
soldiers. The Fathers occupied themselves in building houses, 
the soldiers of the guard and one resident settler assisting in the 
work. This was the reason why the Beverend Father Palou 
certified on the first page of the primitive Books of Baptisms, 
Marriages and Deaths, that the Mission had been founded on the 
1st day of August, 1776. 

I beg leave to be permitted here to mention (because it has 
some connection with part of our history, ) that during the month 
of August Father Palou administered, on the 10th,day, the waters 
of Baptism, abinstaniem mortem, to a child a few days old, who 



THE COMMEMORATION. 105 

was the legitimate son of Ignacio Soto and Maria Barbara de 
Lugo, my mother's aunt, which said child was called Francisco 
Jose deLos Dolores; and on the 25th day a little girl 15 days 
old, the legitimate daughter of Jose Antonio Sanchez and Maria 
de Los Dolores Morales, was baptized and called Juana Maria 
Lorenza. This child was taken to the baptismal font of the 
Mission by Don Jose Canizares, pilot of the packet-boat San 
Carlos. 

The long looked-for San Carlos entered the Port of San 
Francisco and anchored at twelve o'clock, A. M., on the 18th of 
August, opposite the encampment where the garrison had to be 
erected. Captain Quirds, his pilots, and the chaplain (Father 
Nocedal) went immediately on shore. After the customary 
salutation had passed, they inspected the land selected by Moraga 
for a garrison, as well as that of the Mission, and it was agreed 
that both places were suitable for the purposes to which they had 
been destined. According to the very words used by the 
Reverend Father Palou, in his diary of the expedition, which 
reads: " About the middle of September, 1776, the soldiers had 
already built their wooden houses, all duly roofed; the Lieuten- 
ant had his royal house, and a warehouse made of the same 
material had been completed of sufficient capacity to contain all 
the supplies that the vessel had brought. It was immediately . 
decided that the festival should be celebrated with a solemn 
procession, fixing upon the day as that of the 17th of September, 
the same on which Our Mother the Church celebrates the memory 
of the Impression of the Wounds of our Seraphic Father Saint 
Francis. The day could not have been more appropriate, as it 
was that of the Patron Saint of the Port, of the new garrison 
(Presidio,) and of the Mission." 

And for taking possession of the Mission was fixed the 4dh day of 
October, which is the very day of our Seraphic Father, Saint 
Francis."* 

* My assertions concerning the day of the Foundation having been more 
than once, controverted, I here take occasion to explain my position on 
that point. The Eev. Father Palou, it is. true, states that, on account of 
Lieut. Moraga not having returned from his expedition, the ceremonies, 

*5 ■ 



106 • OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

The ceremony of the solemn possession and foundation of the 
Mission took place on the 4th of October. The Lieutenant, 
Don Jose Joaquin Moraga and his soldiers, Don Fernando 
Quiros, commander of the packet-boat, his two pilots, the major 
part of his crew, and, lastly, the never-forgotten Fathers Palou, 
Tomas de la Pena, Cambon, and Nocedal, were present. I will 
quote from Father Palou again: "A solemn mass was sung 
by the Fathers; the ceremony of the formal possession was 
made by the Royal officers, and when it had been completed 
all went into the church and sang a Te Deum Laudamus, with 
the ringing of bells, and, at times, firing salutes with cannon and 
other fire-arms, the ship responding with its artillery." 

It is not only the diary of Father Palou that - serves me as 
authority to fix upon with exactness the day of the possession 
and foundation respectively of the garrison and Mission. These 
data I had obtained a long time before I had seen and read the 
said diary from the lips of the same military men and settlers 

which were to be held at the Mission on the 4th, were suspended or post- 
poned, after Mass was celebrated, and that the Lieutenant having arrived 
on the 7th, the Celebration of the Foundation took place on the following 
day, the 8th of October. In the " Life of Father Junipero Serra," by the 
same author, mention is made in the book, which is verified by official docu- 
ments, that the celebration took place on the ninth (9th) of October. These 
dates are given in figures, and they may possibly be typographical errors in 
one or both of the cases quoted. Be that as it may, it is beyond question 
that the old Fathers, since my earliest recollection — and, from tradition, I 
know, before my time— always considered the fourth of October, the Feast of 
the Patron Saint, as the date of the Foundation, and celebrated the anniver- 
saries on that day in accordance with their belief. It may be urged that the 
celebration of the 4th of October was actually that of the Patron Saint ; 
but would not this rather tend to strengthen my assertion that, having 
selected a Patron for their Mission, they would dedicate that day to the celebra- 
tion of the foundation? I do not wish to be at variance with the gentlemen 
who differ with me on those points jjbnt I owe it to myself to maintain what 
of my own knowledge has been the accepted opinion of those who have long 
since passed away. The fact of the postponement of the celebration of an 
event from accidental causes will not change the original intention. The 
celebration of the anniversary of American Independence, when the 4th of 
July falls on Sunday, is always held on the Monday following ; but it is the 
celebration of the Fourth of July, nevertheless. M. G. Vaxlejo. 



THE COMMEMORATION. 107 

who were eye-witnesses to those ceremonies ; that is to say, 
from Lieutenant Moraga, from my father, Don Ygnacio Vallejo, 
Don Marcos Briones, Galindo, Castro, Pacheco, Bojorques, 
Bernal, Higuera, Peralta, Ame'zquita, Franco Mores, Her- 
nandez, Mesa and others whose names I do not here enumerate, 
as I do not wish to be too lengthy. 

The temporary building of the church was situated at a dis- 
tance of about one thousand varas to the northwest of the spot 
where the actual Temple now stands. The Lake of Dolores was 
at the time located and could be seen to the right of the road 
coming from the Presidio to the Mission between two hills, one 
of which still exists, the other one has disappeared before the 
progressive march of this rich emporium. 

On the 8th day of October, of the mentioned year 1776, the 
erection of the present temple of the Mission of San Francisco 
was commenced, and we to-day on this centennial anniversary, 
have met here, not only to honor the memory of those who 
dedicated it to the service of God, but also to show our admira- 
tion of the great principles, by which they were impelled, namely, 
the faith of Him who died nailed on the cross for the redemption 
of man. 

Providence, which is infinitely wise and bountiful, has per- 
mitted that our venerable pastor should make mention of my 
.father's being one of those brave men who aided and assisted 
the Missionaries with his sword. Consequently, at the same 
time that 1 satisfy your desires, I comply with a duty very 
satisfactory to myself in being the exponent of events that trans- 
pired one hundred years ago, the date upon which commenced 
the life and existence of San Francisco, which we can with pride 
style the Queen City of the Pacific. Jusiitce soror fides — Faith 
is the sister of Justice. I shall be guided in my remarks by a 
pure and holy love for these two sisters. The invigorating 
breath of the gospel, as I said before, was given to us by some 
Franciscan Friars, who were indeed poor and humble Mission- 
aries of Grod, but rich in Faith and Hope in the success of their 
grand and arduous task. By this means were sown the prolific 
seeds of Christianity that has given such marvelous results 



108 OUE CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

during the one hundred years of its existence, which this rich and 
populous city counts; having written it to-day the Metropolitan 
Church, and which, by circumstances and coincidences that would 
be too lengthy to narrate, bears also the name of San Francisco. 
The Metropolitan Church, I said. Yes, it is the one over which 
our worthy Archbishop Alemany so honorably presides. 

Let us for a moment transport ourselves from this day to the 
former century, and let us compare the present gathering here to 
an assemblage of that epoch. The latter consisted of a handful 
of men who were brave Christians, armed to the teeth, and of 
another still smaller party of humble ministers of Christ, but 
gifted with wondrous fortitude and a firm determination that 
nothing could change or oppose, as they had come to preach the 
Word of God and were resigned to take upon themselves the 
crown of martyrdom. Both of these parties were liable to be- 
come at any moment the victims of a rude crowd of naked 
savage gentiles, some of whom had come to them at first through 
curiosity, others prompted by a spirit of destruction, and all of 
them anxious to obtain the presents which were given to them for 
the purpose of alluring them and inspiring them with confidence 
and have them hear for the first time the words of the Gospel. 

The audience whom I have the honor to address on this occa- 
sion is a true representative of the high culture and advanced 
civilization of the nineteenth century, enjoying all the security 
and privileges which that state of society guarantees to them. 

What a vast difference, gentlemen, between what was, and what 
we see 'to-day, in this centennial which we celebrate ! Let us 
bear in mind that in the course only of one hundred years, this 
privileged place has taken a gigantic stride and fallen into the 
hands of a society worthy of prosecuting the work that was begun 
by those true Pioneers. The Mission of San Francisco, which at 
one time was situated on a desert, yet protected by the hand of 
Providence, to-day may be seen nearly m the centre of this popu- 
lous city of the same name. 

The foundation of the Mission and military post (Presidio) 
having been completed, the packet-boat sailed on the 21st, for 
San Bias. During its stay in the Port the Commander (Quirds) 



THE COMMEMORATION. 



109 



had lent all the aid possible to the Mission in getting a carpenter 
and some sailors help to in the construction of doors and windows 
for the church and house of the missionary Fathers, also in 
the building of the altar, as well as in many other things. Not 
satisfied with all this, Captain Quirds left four of his crew to 
work as day laborers on the buildings that were being erected 
and in the tilling of the ground, which was immediately com- 
menced. 

I remember this, together with other things, that I heard in 
my youth from the eye-witnesses of these transactions. Among 
them I should mention the boatswain of the packet-boat known 
by everybody as Neustramo Pepe. This brave man, who was a 
Catalonian by birth, had a heart as sensitive as a woman's. 
He visited my father's house at Monterey a great many times 
in after years, and in conversations had with our family he often 
related the fact of the foundation of the Post and Mission of San 
Francisco, where he had worked with an energy worthy of all 
praise. A great many times and on several occasions he said to 
my father, shedding tears : " Do you remember, Don Ygnacio, 
our farewell on board of the packet-boat when Captain Quirds 
gave the banquet to the officers and priests ? Do you recollect 
how afterwards the military and naval officers, with the priests, 
who were assembled at the landing place on the beach, embraced 
one another and shook hands ? Do you remember that from 
there, after we weighed anchor, all the military men and the 
priests went towards the strip of land that projects out and forms 
the southern cape of the Port (where now stands the fortification), 
and while they were there they waved their handkerchiefs and 
their hats to us as we passed, kindly bidding us a last adieu? 
"What a solemn day was that, my friend ! Do you remember 
how the currents dragged our vessel towards the opposite shores 
of the harbor; and how we were there exposed to great danger, 
until a favorable breeze came up from the northwest, and 
saved us from being dashed against the cliffs of rocks ? Yet, in 
the midst of that tribulation, and such despair, we left in sorrow 
for you who remained exposed, and at the mercy of so many bar- 
barians. Why, man, even Quirds shed tears!" 



110 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

Before leaving our friend, Nuestranio Pepe, it is very gratifying 
to me to mention that' his popularity among our people was so 
great, that no sooner would there be news of the arrival of some 
ship on the coast — that is, at San Diego or some other inhab- 
ited place — than every one would inquire whether Nuestramo 
Pepe had come ; and if he was there he would be received with 
enthusiastic hurrahs and cries of acclamation by all the people 
present. 

We already have our apostolic men engaged in the great work 
of the redemption of thousands of gentiles to whom God had 
opened the way to heaven. It seems to me that I see those 
intrepid men (ministers of the altar and warriors of shield and 
sword,) in these regions, surrounded by a ferocious and barbar- 
ous people whom they had to conquer for God and their sove- 
reign. Combining the two expedients, which affects the human 
heart most ? The main object which both priests and soldiers 
had in view had to be attained. ' ' Suaviter in modo, fortiter in re." 
The mildness of the minister of God upheld by the force of armed 
men produced the desired effects. 

The assiduity of the missionaries never relaxed before the 
numerous obstacles daily thrown in their way. With the meek- 
ness of true Apostles, they succeeded in getting the barbarians 
to present themselves voluntarily to receive the waters of bap- 
tism. By holy abnegation, the example of their virtues, and 
of their constancy, they at last gained the confidence of a consid- 
erable number of catechumens who gradually began to draw near. 

It is a fact known by all the Californians, old as well as 
new, that whole tribes from the surroundings of the Bay came 
to accept a religious faith, which, till then, had been wholly un- 
known to them ; but, for all that, there were some turbulent, 
wicked ones who from the commencement had been opposed to 
the advancement or progress of the foreigners, as they called the 
Spaniards in their own dialect. This feeling of animosity was 
made evident a few days later when the JBuriburi from the In- 
dian Villages (rancherias) afterwards called San Mateo, attacked 
one hut situated about three miles from the Laguna de Los 
Dolores and set it on fire. Such was the terror which this act 



THE COMMEMORATION. Ill 

caused in them, that not even the assurance of protection which 
was promised them by the garrison was sufficient to prevent 
their crossing on their tule rafts to the opposite side of the pen- 
insula, which to-day is Marin county, as well to that on the East, 
which is known at present as Oakland, Alameda, etc. The fu- 
gitives kept away for some time ; but at last they commenced to 
visit the Presidio, and, by December, became so courageous, that 
they considered themselves strong enough to commit depreda- 
tions on the Mission. 

The commanding-sergeant of the guard, Juan Pablo Grijalva, 
caused one of those who had been hostile to be flogged, and this 
act alarmed and enraged the friends of the culprit. Two of 
them fired their arrows at the soldiers, but luckily did not do 
any harm. On the following day the sergeant determined to 
chastise the audacity of those who had been turbulent, after 
which an encounter took place with them in which one of 
the residents was wounded who killed his antagonist with one 
shot, and his body fell into the estuary. The rest of the Indians 
fled, but went to some rocks from whence they continued their 
hostilities. 

A shot well aimed by the sergeant struck one of the gentiles 
in the thigh, the ball going through and lodging in the rocks, 
from where it was taken by the Indians. The death of one and 
the wounding of another of the savages discouraged them to 
such a degree that they asked for peace, which the sergeant 
granted to them. Nevertheless, the two Indians who had been 
the cause of the encounter were taken prisoners. The sergeant 
had them chastised severely, giving them to understand that if, 
in the future, they again manifested hostility they should forfeit 
their lives. This unfortunate occurrence retarded somewhat the 
conversion of those gentiles for several months; but about the 
beginning of 1777 they could be seen about the Mission, and 
three of them were baptised on the 29th of June of that year. 

On the 6th of January, 1777, a party of armed soldiers, under 
the command of Lieutenant Moraga, with an escort, and Father 
Tomas de la Pena, went from San Francisco to the place where 
the Mission of Santa Clara was founded; and another came later, 



112 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

accompanying Father Jose* Murguia, from San Carlos or the 
Carmelo, bringing provisions and supplies for that same place. 
Both priests were to remain in charge of the new establish- 
ment. Father Murguia did not arrive until the 21st, but Father 
Pena had already celebrated Mass there on the 12th. 

The work of the missionaries continued without interruption 
on the part of the Indians. In 1778, the ship Santiago, alias 
Naeva Galicia, arrived from San Bias, bringing on board a cargo 
of provisions for the Mission of San Francisco, together with 
other effects and merchandise for the Presidio. Nothing worthy 
of mention occurred until the latter part of June, 1779, on which 
date the ship Santiago entered the Port of San Francisco aj. ain 
with supplies and merchandise for the Mission and Presidio. 
In the year 1780 the vessel Santiago did not visit the Port of San 
Francisco, but left at Monterey one hundred fanegas (Spanish 
bushels) of corn and other merchandise which it became neces- 
sary to transport by land with very great difficulty. Worse was 
the fate not only of San Francisco, but of all the Missions and 
garrisons (Presidios) of Northern California in 1781, as no 
provisions or yearly supplies from the King arrived. This 
caused great inconvenience, and did considerable damage to the 
conquest. 

Our virtuous missionaries had in that year already reaped such 
abundant fruits from the vineyard, which they were cultivating for 
our Lord Jesus Christ, that the Keverend Father-President 
Junipero Serra, came to San Francisco for the first time, and, 
exercising the powers with which he had been vested by the 
Holy See, administered the sacrament of Confirmation to 69 
neophytes. 

The following year of 1782 was also unfortunate on account 
of the great loss suffered by the Missions in the death of the old 
missionary Father, Friar Juan Crespi. This venerable man and 
wise apostle had already counted thirty years of missionary life 
among the Indians, and came to New California in the expedition 
that founded the first establishment at San Diego, in the year 
1769. In the next succeeding year, he was present at the 
foundation of the Mission of San Carlos de Monterey. I have 




The First Ship entering the Golden Gate. 



THE COMMEMOKATION. 113 

already related the active part which he took with the Com- 
mander Fages in trying to find a place suitable for the establish- 
ment of another Mission at the Port of San Francisco. These 
eminent and invaluable services which he rendered entitle him to 
the highest position among the many worthy missionaries of his 
Seraphic Order. 

On the 13th of May, 1783, two vessels entered our ports with 
supplies and provisions for the Presidios and Missions that had 
already been founded. Friar Pedro Benito Cambon, who had 
been absent on several occasions, was sent back to this Mission 
to accompany Father Palou. 

On the mentioned date, two other vessels arrived with more 
provisions and merchandise, bringing an auxiliary force of 
missionaries, composed of the Keverend Fathers, Friar Juan 
Antonio Garcia Bioboo, and Friar Diego Nobda. Both of these 
clergymen remained in the Mission of San Francisco, and took 
part with the resident ministers in celebrating the feast of 
Corpus Christi with all the solemnity that their means allowed . 

After this they were called away by the President and ordered 
to go to Monterey. The missionary Fathers, at the same time 
that they worked for the good of the soul, did not neglect mate- 
rial happiness. fc 

When they had a pretty large congregation of converts under 
subjection, they dedicated them to works of industry. Besides 
the agricultural pursuits, from which the missionaries as well as 
the neoplfytes and catechumens were to receive their subsistence, 
adobes, bricks, tiles, etc. , were made, and the construction of the 
holy temple was begun; granaries, residences, quarters and a 
guard-house for the soldiers, and lastly, houses for those Indians 
who had been converted to Christianity, were built. It will be 
readily seen by this account that the most worthy Fathers were 
constantly employed in their spiritual as well as temporal labors : 
although the latter was always subordinate to the former. 

In one of my journeys to San Francisco, during the year 1826, 
I found this Mission in all its splendor and state "of preservation, 
consisting, at that time, of one church, the residence of the Kev. 
Fathers, granaries, warehouses for merchandise, guard-house 



114 THE COMMEMORATION. 

for the soldiers, prison, an orchard of fruit trees and vegetable gar- 
den, cemetery, the entire rancheria (Indian village) all construct- 
ed of adobe houses with tile roofs — the whole laid out with great 
regularity, forming streets, and a tannery and soap factory — 
that is to say, on that portion which actually lies between 
Church, Dolores and Guerrero streets, from north to south, and 
between Fifteenth and Seventeenth streets, from east to west. 
I think that the neophytes living in the Mission, in San Mateo, 
and in San Pedro reached six hundred souls . 

In the year 1830, I was directed by my superior officer to con- 
tinue to serve at the Prtsidios. Everything was in the same state 
of preservation in which I had left it in 1826. 

I recollect, with joy, that on the 4th of October, 1830, while the 
Beverend Father Friar Thomas Estenega was minister of the 
Mission, and I was acting as adjutant of the garrison (Presidio), 
the military commander was invited to take part with his officers 
in the celebration; consequently, all the soldiers were present 
that he who now addresses you had under his orders. Salutes 
were fired in front of the church and residence of the priests on 
that day in regular order. There were also present at the celebra- 
tion of the holy Patron Saint, the Beverend Fathers, Friar Jose" 
Viader of the Mission of Santa Clara, Friar Buenaventura For- 
tuni, of that of San Francisco Solano, and Friar Juan Amords, 
of that of San Bafael. During the Mass, the last priest men- 
tioned officiated, while Fathers Viader and Fortuni acted as 
deacon and sub-deacon — Father Estenega (who was stili young) 
being left in charge of the choir, music, etc. 

A sermon was preached by Father Viader, relating to the 
festivity of the holy Patron, and to the foundation of the place 
on the 4th of October, 1776. 

This was the last celebration at which four Spanish priests, 
from Spain, assisted with the same object as that had by the 
meritorious Pioneers, and the ministers Palou, Cambon, Pena, 
and Nocedal on the 4th of October, 1776, one hundred years 
ago. What a singular coincidence! I will give a short biogra- 
phy of those apostolic men. 



THE COMMEMOEATION. 115 

Beverend Friar Jose Viader was a man of refined manners; 
tall in stature, somewhat severe in his aspect, open and frank in 
his conversation. He was as austere in religious matters as he 
was active in the management of the temporalities of the Mission 
of Santa Clara, which he always administered. He became 
remarkable among other things, because theKosary, which he 
carried fastened to the girdle of the Order around his waist, 
had a large crucifix attached to it. 

Friar Fortuni was a holy man who was incessantly praying ; 
he could always be seen in or out of the Mission with the Bre- 
viary in his hand, or reciting the Kosary in the church : he was 
very learned and affable in his intercourse with the people of 
those times; and was very humble, and, besides, a great apostle. 

Friar Tomas Estenega was a young man of medium height, 
the personification of activity, of jovial disposition, select and 
varied in his conversation, an excellent and very sincere priest. 
He had seen a great deal of the war of Eevolution in Spain, 
and was there during the French invasion, when Napoleon I. 
and his brother Joseph tried to appropriate to themselves that 
privileged land. 

Friar Juan Amoros was sanctity itself ; and if I possessed the 
eloquence of the great orators, I would consume more time in 
depicting the brilliant qualities which adornecl that venerable 
missionary. But not having those talents I shall limit my 
remarks, and say that Father Amoros was a model of virtue, 
charity, humility, and of Christian meekness — a man without a 
blemish, of a candid heart, and of most exemplary life ; he was 
the admiration of his contemporaries and the astonishment 
of the tribes of the aborigines. 

When I was a child, nearly seventy years ago, I knew him at 
the Mission of San Carlos of Monterey as chaplain of the gar- 
rison of the same name. "When he came to celebrate Mass in 
the chapel of the soldiers on Sundays he always brought a few 
sweet figs, dates and raisins in the sleeve of his habit, which he 
distributed after Mass to the boys of the Sunday school; but 
this he did after he had given instruction in Christian Doctrine 



116 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

for half an hour. On the 14th of July, 1832, this apostolic 
missionary died at the Mission of San Rafael, at half-past three 
o'clock in the morning. 

The register of his burial says that he was a native of the 
Province of Catalonia (Spain), born on the 10th October, 1773; 
took the habit of Our Seraphic Father San Francisco on the 
28th of April, 1791; was admitted into the Order by making the 
necessary vows on the 30th of the same month of the following 
year, and was ordained priest in the month of December, 1797. 
On the 4th of March, 1803, he left Catalonia to come to the 
College of San Fernando, in the city of Mexico, where he arrived 
on the 26th of July. 

In 1804, animated by his great zeal for the conversion of the 
gentiles, with the blessing of his superiors, he came to the 
missions of Upper California, where he arrived in the commence- 
ment of the year 1804, and was appointed as minister to the 
Mission of San Carlos, where, he lived fifteen years, acting as 
resident apostolic minister. From there, by permission of his 
superior, who was the Reverend Father Prefect, Friar Mariano 
Payeras, he went to that of San Rafael, where he worked and 
labored with astonishing perseverance until his death. He was 
buried in the Mission church on the 4th of July, at five o'clock 
in the afternoon. 

I must remark that the Mission of San Rafael was for several 
years a branch of that of San Francisco, and always remained 
under the jurisdiction of this Presidio. I speak with so much 
feeling of kindness towards Father Amoros, because I am cog- 
nizant of his great virtues, his pure heart and sincere devotion. 
Moreover, it was with him that I made my first Confession; and 
from his holy hands I received for the first time the consecrated 
bread of the Eucharist. 

I have already made mention of his moral gifts, it remains 
now for me only to describe his physical aspect; and I could not 
give you a more exact idea of him, nor draw a more perfect 
likeness from the original, than by calling your attention to the 
person of a most esteemed ecclesiastic who is here present; his 
stature, manners, features, smile and amiable disposition all 



THE COMMEMORATION. 117 

bring back to my memory the image of that holy man. Neither 
Kulofson nor any other of our most skilled photographers could 
produce as perfect a picture of Father Amoros than that 
which we have before us in the person of our venerable Arch- 
bishop, Joseph Sadoc Alemany. And, at the same time, I feel 
highly pleased to say, that it is not only in the physical qualities 
that I find a great resemblance in the two men. 

I must observe here, that during the first years of the Founda- 
tion, as the Indians of the Buriburi tribe were not willing to live 
in this place on account of it being extremely cold and destitute 
of those fine groves of trees which the hand of Providence was 
pleased to plant in the region which they occupied, and as the 
Indians from San Pedro were enjoying the benefits of their 
fertile lands, and hence opposed to come and live in a climate so 
different from that in which they were born, in order to remedy 
this inconvenience, and at the same time avail themselves of reli- 
gious instruction, both tribes petitioned the Father ministers, 
asking to be allowed to live on their lands, obligating themselves 
to build chapels and to dedicate themselves to agricultural pur- 
suits and other labors, all of which was done with great success. 

The priests went every Saturday, accompanied by an escort, 
said mass, preached, and ..then returned to the t mother church. 
The ministers maintained for some time a chapel and store- 
houses for grain amongst the Juchiyunes, Acalanes, Bolgones 
and Carquinez Indians, who occupied that portion of country 
known as Contra Costa. The chapel was located in what is 
known to-day as the rancho of San Pablo, where the missionaries 
went to comply with their ministerial duties, and, besides, to 
direct the works and attend to the administration of their tem- 
poralities. 

The immense wealth of the Mission of San Francisco was ac- 
quired from those three farms, and from its own lands, which 
were situated from Bincon Point to Hayes Valley (ElGentil), 
Devisadero, and the Garrison (Presidio) to Point Lobos. These 
were recognized as its boundaries, from the time of the ancient 
founders; upon which grazed all its cattle, horses, sheep and 
hogs, and from which abundant crops of wheat, corn and beans 
were harvested. 



118 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

The foundation of San Kafael was made on the 14th of De- 
cember, 1817. High Mass was celebrated by the Rev. Prefect, 
Father Vicente Francisco de Sarria, assisted by Fathers Luis Gil, 
Ramon Abella and Narciso Duran, with sermon and other 
ceremonies analogous to the occasion. Father Serria baptised 
four little Indians, and called them respectively by the names of 
Rafael, Miguel and Gabriel (in honor of the three Archangels), 
and the fourth by his own name, Vicente Francisco. Father 
Louis Gil de Taboda remained as resident priest there . 

This Mission was the fourth daughter of that of San Francisco; 
the first having been that of Santa Clara, as I have already said, 
the second that of Santa Cruz, which was founded on the 29th of 
August 1791, and the third was that of San Jose founded on the 11th 
of June, 1797. The last one was that of San Francisco Solano 
(Sonoma Valley), founded in 1823; abandoned soon after on 
account of the incursions of the Indians, and reestablished in 
1827, under the supervision of the virtuous Father Fortuni ; but 
it was not rebuilt permanently until 1830. 

The Spanish successors of the worthy Fathers Palou and 
Cambon in this Mission were, if my memory serves me right, 
Friars Ramon Abella, Juan Lucio, Juan Cabot, Jose Altimira and 
Tomas Estenega. I was personally acquainted with all of them, 
and I can testify to their being worthy ministers of God and in- 
defatigable apostles. 

And now, permit me to make a few remarks in defense of the 
good name of some of the indviduals who governed this country 
during the Mexican Administration, whose reputation has been 
sometimes wantonly attacked; while nothing has ever been said 
against the Governors, under Spain, who preceded them . 

Much has been said, and even more has been written, concern- 
ing the Missions and their great wealth. And who are they that 
figure in that drama ? Who are its authors ? Are they, 
perchance, impartial men ? or, to say the least, have they an 
accurate knowledge of the history of the Missions of this Upper 
California ? No, no ! gentlemen; they were foreign writers, 
interested parties, and consequently partial in their style; who, 
without reflection, hurriedly advanced, as undeniable fact, that 



THE COMMEMOEATION. 119 

which was false, all for the purpose of deluding the ignorant 
and of profiting by the utterance of base falsehoods, at the 
same time that they flattered their taste by censuring indirectly 
and unfairly the acts of the collectors of the Missions, styling 
them thieves, etc. That the Missions were rich we all know. 
But what were those riches ? This they do not tell us. Never- 
theless, these riches consisted in moveable stock and agricul- 
tural productions; but they make no mention of pecuniary 
wealth. 

That the Mexican Governors robbed the Missions is an 
absurdity. The first Mexican Governor, Don Luis A. Argiiello* 
a native of San Francisco, was decidedly a protector of the Mis- 
sions and a friend to the Missionaries. He died poor, leaving to 
his family no other patrimony than the small rancho of Las 
Pulgas, with a few head of stock. 

The second Governor, Don Jose Maria de Echeandia, exercised 
his authority in the time of the Republic; and although he was 
always directly opposed to the Spanish priests because they 
would not swear to the Mexican Constitution, nevertheless, he 
extended to them his protection as much as it was in his power, 
and in conformity with the instructions which he had from the new 
Government. From this resulted, necessarily, a*misunderstand- 
ing between the ancient ministers and the New Governor, who 
esteemed them highly; and if he had to act against some of them, 
it was done for a legal cause, and not because he had any antipa- 
thy or hatred towards them. 

After having governed the country for five years, Echeandia 
had great difficulty in collecting and getting together, by the aid 
of the priests of San Luis Rey and San Juan Capistrano, who 
were his friends, the sum of three thousand dollars which he 
needed to return to Mexico. Don Manuel Victoria was the third 
Governor, who, from his coming into power, gained the good will 
of the missionaries and was always upon the best terms with 
them. All the steps towards secularization which had been 
taken by his predecessor were annulled by Victoria, even before 
he was in possession of the Government. His official conduct 
was despotic, and he forced the Californians to send him out of 



120 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

the country; yet it would be an injustice to accuse him of hav- 
ing robbed either the country or the Missions. The priests aided 
him pecuniarily, that he might be able to leave. 

Don Jose' Figueroa, the fourth Mexican Governor, was an 
educated and upright man. He died poor at Monterey. 

Castro, Gutierrez, Chico, Alvarado, Micheltorena, and, lastly, 
Pio Pico, all had to contend with revolutionary elements. The 
priests had disappeared, the neophytes had left the Missions and 
gone away to the villages of the gentiles, and the government, 
under such circumstances, had to take possession of the lands 
which were claimed by the Missions, through the power which it 
possessed, and in order to defend the country against an invasion 
with which it was threatened. 

When the old missionaries saw that the political tornado was 
about to burst upon the Mission system, they commenced to 
convert into money all their moveable property, such as cattle 
and stock. In the Missions of San Gabriel, San Fernando, San 
Juan Capistrano and San Luis Rey, they killed by contract with 
private individuals, during the years 1830, 1831 and 1832, 
more than sixty thousand head of cattle, from which they only 
saved the hides. The pecuniary wealth of the Missions in their 
primitive days, which were more productive, was sent out of the 
country to Spain, Mexico or Italy. This I know, and presume, 
and even believe, that all of it arrived safely at its place of desti- 
nation. Be that as it may, neither the Governors nor the Cali- 
fornians ever partook of any of that wealth, with the exception of 
$20,000, which, upon an occasion of imperative necessity, we, 
the members of the Deputation, together with other prominent 
citizens, obtained from Father Jose Sanchez of the Mission of 
San Gabriel, to facilitate the payment of the expenses of a mil- 
itary force destitute of everything at the time, thus avoiding the 
commission of greater evils. 

During the lengthy period of the war of Independence, and even 
afterwards, the Missions supplied the troops of the Cuera (leather 
coats) with provisions and other effects, as no more yearly sup- 
plies had been sent from Mexico. 



'CHE COMMEMORATION. 121 

But it is necessary to bear in mind that the Spanish flag waved 
over California, and that the priests did, no more than comply 
with the orders of the King, at the same time that they looked 
for their own protection and that of the Missions, soldiers being 
constantly engaged in protecting the Missions, and in continuous 
campaigns for the purpose of keeping the Indians under sub- 
jection. Without those soldiers, the Indians would have risen 
immediately against the Missions, and all the white inhabitants 
would have inevitably perished. 

The missionaries from the College of our Lady of Guadalupe, 
Zacatecas, came from Mexico in the year 1832, and it was the lot 
of the Mission of San Francisco to have, as a missionary Father 
Jose Maria Gutierrez, who continued here for some time. After 
that, Fathers Lorenzo Guijas and Mercado had charge of it alter- 
nately. When this Mission was secularized it was delivered 
over to several overseers (mayordomos) who were appointed by 
the Political Government, until the Indian priest, Prudencio 
Santillan, took charge of it. This Kev. Father had been ordained 
in sacris by the first Bishop in California, Friar Don Francisco 
Garcia Diego. 

I have occupied the attention of this intelligent audience so 
long for the purpose of giving a detailed narration of the primi- 
tive history of the«Presidio, Mission and Pueblo of San Francisco, 
which up to the year 1846 did not count a population any greater 
than that within this fine hall — a weak fortification, one or 
two officers, a company of soldiers and a handful of resident set- 
tiers in twenty-five or thirty houses. 

What a change is presented to our view to-day ! A great city, 
which, having absorbed the three points mentioned, has filled the 
entire peninsula with a population of nearly three hundred 
thousand inhabitants, dedicated to all the arts known to the 
highest degree of civilization. The harbor and city, protected by 
strong fortifications and well-equipped ships of war, situated 
on the most advantageous position, it is destined to become the 
grand commercial centre of India, China and Japan, at the same 
time that it will be such for the entire northern coast of the 
Pacific. What shallbe the destiny which the Supreme Benefactor 
6 



122 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

has prepared for this portion of our beautiful native land for the 
next coming hundred years? I entertain the full conviction that 
the hand of the Great Creator, by which is guided the progress 
and happiness of mankind, will carry us to the highest degree of 
excellence in all the branches of knowledge. Then, it is to be 
hoped, that those who will celebrate that day, taking a retrospective 
view of the present epoch, will remember with gratitude what 
this generation, by divine aid, has established for them, to carry 
on, until they reach moral, intellectual and physical perfection. 
And let us from this moment send cordial salutations to our 
fortunate descendants who will see the brilliant dawn of the 
second Centennial of the Foundation of the Mission of San Frvn- 
cisco de Asis. 

At the conclusion of the exercises at the Mechan- 
ics' Pavilion, his Grace the Most Rev. Archbishop 
Alemany and the Right Rev. Bishop O'Connell, es- 
corted by the Grand Marshal's Aids, proceeded in 
carriages to the Mission Dolores to lay the corner- 
stone of the new church, which it has been deter- 
mined to erect on what may indeed be truly styled, in 
the language of Byron, " haunted, holy ground." 
The site of the contemplated structure is on the north 
side of the old Mission church. A block of Rocklin 
granite, 2 feet by 10 long, 2 feet by 5 \ feet broad, 
and one by seven deep, forms the northern corner of 
the tower to be erected in connection with the new 
place of worship. The edifice will be cruciform, of 
brick, with stone facings and trimmings. On the ex- 
posed side of the corner-stone there are simply carved 
figures of ' ' 1876 " and a cross. The architect is Mr. P. 
Huerne, and the estimated cost of the church will be 
from $80,000 to $90,000. Mr. Edward Connolly is 



THE COMMEMORATION. 123 

the master-mason and contractor. It will have a 
frontage of 85 feet. A contribution has already been 
made to the building fund. Late as it was in the after- 
noon when the ceremonies of the dedication com- 
menced, a large assemblage was present. The pro- 
cession was marshaled by Mr. D. J. Oliver. His 
Grace the Most Rev. Archbishop, attended by the 
Right Rev. Bishop O'Connell, and the Rev. Father 
Hugh P. Gallagher, the representative of the Right 
Rev. Bishop Amat, of Monterey and Los Angeles, and 
members of the secular and regular clergy of the 
province of San Francisco, proceeded with the dedica- 
cation. In front one of the acolytes bore a large 
crucifix, and tapers were carried by the others. 
After lowering the stone into position, the Archbishop 
sprinkled holy water and blessed the site of the con- 
templated religious edifice. His Grace then placed a 
metal casket into the cavity of the granite which 
was closed by marble slabs. He then tapped the 
stone four times, declared it well laid, and bestowed 
his benediction. The contents of the casket con- 
sisted of a ground-plan of the proposed edifice, a 
Latin scroll written on vellum, containing a brief 
mention of the date and facts of the Centennial Cele- 
bration, and the purpose for which the building was 
designed. It was added that the reigning Sovereign 
Pontiff, Pius IX., was in the thirty-first year of his 
Pontificate; that Ulyses S. Grant was President of the 
United States; that William Irwin was Governor of 
California; that the church, under the invocation of 
God, was dedicated to St. Francis de Asis; and that 



124: OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

the corner-stone was laid by Archbishop Alemany, 
assisted by Bishop O'Connell and the clergy. 
Copies of the San Francisco Monitor and Guardian, 
the New York Freeman's Journal, the London Tablet, 
and local daily journals, as well as a rare Japanese 
coin, a half-dollar forty-six } T ears old, and a piece of 
wood one hundred years old taken from the roof 
of the old Mission church, were also inclosed in the 
casket. 

Thus terminated, with befitting solemnity, the Cen- 
tennial Celebration of the founding of the Presidio of 
San Prancisco and the Mission Dolores. That the 
Commemoration of the chiefest event in the annals of 
California was a success, cannot be questioned. Nor, 
apart from the surpassing grandeur of the religious 
demonstration, and the pomp of martial pageantry, 
were the civic accessories unworthy of the scene. 
With the dawn of the anniversary an era of generous 
feeling seemed to have set in. In the celebration of 
the memorable day the citizens of the State, headed 
by his Excellency the Governor and the representa- 
tives of Federal authority, participated with hearty 
good-will. The American colors, carried in a line of 
some six thousand men, with the Irish and Mexican 
flags, symbolized a veritable Pacific Union. It took 
more than an hour for the array to pass a given point. 
A pleasing feature of the parade were the little girls, 
dressed in white belonging to the Mission Dolores 
Sunday School, under the protection of the good Sisters 
of Notre Dame ; and the young ladies of St. Joseph's 
Sunday School, with crowns of flowers, and white veils. 



THE COMMEMOEATION. 125 

The students, too, of the Colleges conducted by 
the Brothers of the Christian Schools, attired in 
modest regalia, challenged favorable notice. It only 
remains to add, in the words of an impartial observer 
in the local daily press, that "such was the order 
maintained, not a single accident occurred by 
reason of the crowded condition of the streets and 
sidewalks; and not a single unpleasant incident was 
noticed to mar the harmony of the occasion/' And 
as the purple mist which had covered, like a veil, the 
glory of the morning dissolved in the golden air, 
and the clouds — "pavilions of the sun," as Bulwer 
Lytton has it — passed away, the scene was assuredly 
a brilliant one. Bright with varied hues the stately 
procession pursued its triumphal march beneath the 
glance of beautiful eyes moist with emotion, and 
amid the cheers of the multitude that thronged the 
sidewalks. Proudly eminent the Stars and Stripes 
borne by each organization in the line (and which 
had erewhile floated from many a fortress in New 
Spain) seemed to derive fresh lustre from the gaudy 
standards of the Sister Republic, carried by the Mex- 
ican Companies. In friendly union with the banners 
of both countries, blazed, on a field of emerald green, 
the Harp and Sunburst of Erin, the ally of Catholic 
Spain in the past and of the Great Republic, from 
the dawn of National Independence, to our own time. 
In the First Division, led by Major P. R. O'Brien, 
were the First Battalion of Cavalry, Second Brigade 
of the National Guard of California, and the Jackson 
Dragoons, corps conspicuous as dashing sabreurs. It 



126 OUE CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

was worthy of note that the Third Eegiment of In- 
fantry, under .the command of the gallant veteran. 
Colonel A. Wason, turned out with full ranks. The 
martial bearing and admirable discipline of the men 
reflected honor on the State Militia. Foremost, too, 
among the civic organizations appeared in full strength 
the Ancient Order of Hibernians with green regalia 
set off by gold and silver embroidery, whose ranks 
were reinforced by strong delegations from the neigh- 
boring counties. A not unfriendly rivalry seemed to 
animate the Mexican and Spanish elements of the 
Third Division. For once, at least, the hostile feeling 
incident to the revolution that overthrew the domi- 
nation of Spain in her richest Colonial dependency, 
not to mention the international difficulties that sub- 
sequently disturbed the relations of the two countries, 
had apparently vanished ; and upon an occasion that 
appealed to olden memories and the sanctity of a com- 
mon faith, the Mexican citizen and the Spanish-born 
subject were united in fraternal effort. Something 
like the same good-will, if unhappily rare in Spanish 
America, has always existed among the Catholic 
families worthy of the name, of Old and New France, 
and (in a less degree, certainly) of the Catholic manor- 
houses of Great Britain and the State of Maryland. 
Mexico, to be sure— the prey of Red-Kadicalism and mis- 
creants in power — can hardly be compared with Lower 
Canada, ever loyal to the Holy See, or with the Catholic 
colony founded by Lord Baltimore, still true — per tot 
discrimina rerum — to its Conservative traditions, 
and one of whose sons, the distinguished jurist, 



THE COMMEMORATTION. 127 

A. H. Loughborough, is one of the most loved and 
honored representatives of Catholic interests in Cali- 
fornia. A true Catholic, indeed, would justly ascribe 
this sudden entente cordiale between "factions so long 
and bitterly opposed, to the patronage of the Mother 
of God — Beina y Madre de misericordia, vida, dulzura 
y esperanza nuestra — under whose standard marched 
the congregation of the church of our Lady of Gua- 
dalupe, escorted by the Juarez Guard, (so called aftei 
a late President of Mexico, of unmixed Indian blood), 
and a well-equipped troop of Spanish gentlemen, not 
a few of whom were subjects of the Crown of Spain 
and the Indies. In this connection a faithful chroni- 
cler of the Centennial Celebration cannot omit to 
notice, however briefly and inadequately, the fine 
appearance presented by the Sodalities of the Blessed 
Virgin of the church of St. Ignatius — organizations 
that shed honor upon the zeal of the t Jesuit Fathers 
and the piety of the lay members. Not inferior in 
living interest, too, were the St. Joseph's Temperance 
Society, also followers of Mary, the Catholic Tempe- 
rance Society of St. Bridget's, the Society of St .John 
the Baptist, and the Cadets of St. Patrick. In the 
procession, also, were represented the clergy and 
parishioners of the churches of St. Peter, St. Joseph, 
St. Francis de Asis and St. Patrick, as well as the 
Friars Preachers of the church of St. Dominic de 
Guzman, and the regular clergy of the Society of Jesus 
of the church of St. Ignatius de Loyola and Santa 
Clara College. In the person of Rev. Father Alvarez 
of the Franciscan College of Santa Barbara, as already 



128 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

mentioned, the Order of the Friars Minor found a 
worthy representative. For the rest, in the Eighth 
Division, St. Joseph's Benevolent Society, marshaled 
by Michael Kane, maintained its reputation as the 
chief Catholic organization of San Francisco; while, 
in the Eleventh Division, composed of German citi- 
zens, shone brightly that loyalty to the ancient faith 
which, despite Bismarck's blood-and-iron regime, 
burns with pristine glow in the mighty Empire con- 
secrated by the virtues of St. Boniface. The last 
Division consisted of some sixty carriages, contain- 
ing ladies and gentlemen. The picturesque and gal- 
lant bearing of the Independent MacMahon Guards, 
recalled the " days of old" when the Irish Brigade 
saved the honor of France at Fontenoy and on other 
fields, as well as the achievements, in peace and in 
war, of the most illustrious soldier of the age, the 
President of the French Republic, himself a lineal 
descendant of an ancient Irish house. The Guards 
acted as an escort to the St. Mary's Total Abstinence 
and Benevolent Society, the Laborers' Protective 
Association, and the Knights of St. Patrick, a body 
of prominent and patriotic Irish-Americans. And 
here it should be said that to the energy, adminis- 
trative ability and admirable arrangements of Mr. 
James B. Kelly, Grand Marshal, and his efficient 
colleagues, Hon. John Hamill and Hon. John M. 
Burnett, Chief Aids, and Mr. P. J. Sullivan, Chief of 
Staff, not a little of the eclat and success that attend- 
ed the Centennial Celebration must in justice be 
attributed. Let us cherish the hope that the labors 




Father Junipeko Seeba. 



FATHEB JUNIPERO. 129 

of the humble followers of San Francisco de Asis — the 
first Christian pioneers of Upper California — may ever 
be held in honor, and that their memory, like the glory 
of their holy founder in Heaven, may be perpetual. 



The Apostle of Upper California. 

THE venerable Padre Fray Junipero Serra, President 
of the Franciscan Missionaries, and who may, 
with truth, be styled the Apostle of Christianity to the 
gentile inhabitants of Upper California, was born in 
the island of Majorca, on the 24th of November, 1713. 
According to the "Relation Historica de la Vida,'' 
written by a Brother Keligious, he received in baptism 
the name of Michael Joseph, which, from his devotion 
to the companion of the Seraphic Saint, he changed, 
on becoming a member of the Order of St. Francis, 
for that of Junipero. It was in the Convent of St. 
Bernardino, where his elementary studies were made, 
that he formed the wish of devoting his life to the 
immediate service of God. At Palma, the capital of 
the island, he was, in his sixteenth year, received as 
a member of the Order of St. Francis, on the 14th of 
September, 1?30. Some idea may be gleaned of his 
aspirations, in early youth, of setting out as a mis- 
sionary to the New World, from his remark at a later 
period to a friend : " I had no other motive than to 
revive in my heart those glorious designs which I 
formed in my novitiate, when reading the lives of the 
6* 



130 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

Saints." From his religious profession, which took 
place on the 15th of September, 1731, he dated that 
improvement in his health which enabled him to per- 
form the duties enjoined by the rule of his Order, 
when living in community, and subsequently to brave 
the perils and privations of an explorer of the savage 
wilds of America. While yet a student, he was ap- 
pointed to a chair of Philosophy in the principal Fran- 
ciscan college of his native island. So distinguished 
was his ability that, " before the end of the philoso- 
phical curriculum, he was honored by the University 
of the country with the honorary degree of Doctor 
of Divinity, and a chair of Theology. " Disgusted with 
worldly honors, he determined to devote his life as a 
missionary priest to the conversion of the gentiles, 
and on the twenty-eighth of August, 1749, after 
recommending himself to God and our Blessed Lady, 
he embarked for America, in company with twenty 
other Keligious. After many dangers by sea and 
land, Father Junipero, accompanied by only a single 
companion, arrived at theC ity of Mexico, on the 1st 
of January, 1750, having travelled from Vera Cruz — 
some fifteen hundred miles — on foot. 

In June, 1750, in company with Father Francis 
Palou, Father Junipero, in obedience to the com- 
mands of his superiors, left the college of San Fer- 
nando, in Mexico, to take charge of a Mission in the 
territory of the Sierra Gorda, a vast, uncultivated 
region, inhabited by a gentile population to whom 
the Gospel had never been preached. In the Sierra 
Gorda the venerable missionary labored, with a zeal 



FATHER JUNIPERO. 131 

never surpassed, during a period of nine years. On 
his return to the Franciscan convent in the Mexican 
capital, Father Junipero was transferred to another 
field of effort. A Mission was established, under his 
government, at San Diego, the first in Upper Cali- 
fornia, and, for many years, the most important station 
on the northern coast. During the journey by land 
to San Diego a Mission dedicated to San Fernando, 
and the first formed by the Franciscan Fathers since 
their arrival in the country, was founded at Yillacata, 
in Lower California. In mentioning the fact, Father 
Palou observes : ' ' On the day following they com- 
menced the foundations; the venerable Father-Presi- 
dent being vested with alb and stole, blessed the holy 
water, and with it the site of the church, and the holy 
cross, which, being saluted as usual, was planted in 
front of the church. They named as patron, both for 
the church and Mission, the holy King^of Castile and 
Leon, San Fernando. Having chaunted the first Mass, 
the President pronounced a most fervent discourse on 
the descent of the Holy Ghost and the establishment 
of the Mission. The sacrifice of the Mass being con- 
cluded, the " Veni Creator" was sung, the want of an 
organ and other musical instruments being supplied 
by the continual discharge of firearms during the cere- 
mony, and the want of incense, of which they had 
none, by the smoke of the muskets." 

On the feast of our Lady of Mount Carmel, July 
16th, 1769, was founded at San Diego the first Mis- 
sion in Upper California. So remarkable is the event 
that the annexed letter, dated July 3d, 1769, addressee! 



132 OUK CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

by the Father-President of the Franciscan Missiona- 
ries to his future biographer, Father Palou, will, with- 
out doubt, be read with deep interest : 

" My Dear Friend: — Thank God I arrived the day before yes- 
terday, the first of the month, at this port of San Diego, truly a 
fine one, and not without reason called famous. Here I found 
those who had set out before me, both by sea and land, except 
those who have died. The brethren, Fathers Crespi, Biscaino, 
Parron and Gomez, are here with myself, and all are quite well, 
thank God. Here are also the two vessels, but the San Carlos 
without sailors, all having died of the scurvy, except two. The 
San Antonio, although she sailed a month and a half later* 
arrived twenty days before the San Carlos, losing on the voyage 
eight sailors. Iu consequence of this loss it has been resolved 
that the San Antonio shall return to San Bias to fetch sailors for 
herself and for the San Carlos. 

" The causes of the delay of the San Carlos were: first, lack of 
water, owing to the casks being bad, which, together with bad 
water obtained on the coast, occasioned sickness among the crew; 
and secondly, the error which all were in respecting the situation 
of this port. They supposed it to be thirty- three or thirty-four 
degrees north latitude, some saying one and some the other, 
and strict orders were given to Captain Villa and the rest to keep 
out in the open sea till they arrived at the thirty-fourth degree, 
and then to make the shore in search of the port. As, however, 
the port in reality lies in thirty-two degrees thirty-four minutes, 
according to the observations that have been made, they went 
much beyond it, thus making the voyage much longer than was 
necessary. The people got daily worse from the cold and the 
bad water, and they must all have perished if they had not 
discovered the port about the time they did. For they were 
quite unable to launch the boat to procure more water, or to do 
anything whatever for their preservation. Father Fernando did 
everything in his power to assist the sick; and although he 
arrived much reduced in flesh, he did not become ill, and is now 
well. We have not suffered hunger or other privations, neither 
have the Indians who came with us; all arrived well and healthy. 



FATHER JUNIPERO. 133 

"The tract through which we passed is generally yery good 
land, with plenty of water ; and there, as well as here, the 
country is neither rocky nor overrun with brushwood. There 
are, however, many hills, but they are composed of earth. The 
road has been in some places good, but the greater part bad. 
About half-way, the valleys and banks of rivulets began to be 
delightful. "We found vines of a large size, and in some cases 
quite loaded with grapes; we also found an abundance of roses, 
which appeared to be like those of Castile, In fine, it is a good 
country, and very different from old California. 

"We have seen Indians in immense numbers, and all those 
on this coast of the Pacific contrive to make a good subsistence 
on various seeds, and by fishing. The laUer they carry on by 
means of rafts or canoes, made of tule (bullrush) with which 
they go a great way to sea. They are very civil. All the males, 
old and young, go naked; the women, however, and the female 
children, are decently covered from their breasts downward. We 
found on our journey, as well as in the place where we stopped 
that they treated us with as much confidence and good- will as if 
they had known us all their lives. But when we offered them 
any of our victuals, they always refused them. All they cared 
for was cloth, and only for something of this sort would they 
exchange their fish or whatever else they had. During the whole 
march we found hares, rabbits, some deer, and a multitude of 
berendos (a kind of a wild goat) . 

" I pray God may preserve your health and life many years. 

" From this port and intended Mission of San Diego, in North 
California, third July, 1769. 

"Francis Junipero Seera." 

That the "confidence and good-will" on the part 
of the gentiles, whereof the Father-President speaks 
with wonted charity in the foregoing letter, lacked 
stability , and could not be depended upon , is unhappily 
apparent from the fact that, during the absence of the 
expedition by land, commanded by Don Gaspar Por- 



134 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIK. 

tola to discover and settle the port of Monterey, and 
which was composed of the commandant already 
mentioned, three officers, one sergeant, the Fathers 
Juan Crespi and Francisco Gomez, with twenty-six 
soldiers, seven muleteers, and fifteen Indians of Lower 
California — making in all a total of fifty-five Euro- 
peans and Indians — Father Junipero and his com- 
panions, two missionaries and eight soldiers, who 
remained at San Diego, were in great peril from the 
perfidious spirit of the gentiles. In order to obtain 
possession of the property belonging to the Religious, 
the savages attacked the newly-established Mission, 
in great force. " A perilous position, indeed," says 
the historian of " The Catholic Church in California," 
" it was, for the little band — ten or a dozen persons, 
without a fort, barricade or other means of defence 
save what a few hastily-erected huts could afford, and 
surrounded at the same time by hundreds of infuriated 
savages eagerly bent on their destruction, and armed 
with bows and arrows, spears, clubs and stones. The 
interposition of Heaven alone seemed capable of sav- 
ing them in the emergency. On the 15th of the 
month, two days after the first attack had been made, 
the Indians in great numbers fell on the Mission and 
began plundering everything that came in their way. 
The soldiers were immediately put under arms, when 
the savages retired to a distance and began shooting 
their arrows. The firing was kept up with great vigor 
on both sides for a considerable time, till the enemy 
retired, having lost several in killed and wounded ; 
the loss on the part of the Christians being only one 



FATHER JUNIPEEO. 135 

killed and four wounded. The result of this engage- 
ment proved entirely different from what might have 
been expected. Instead of either entirely abandon- 
ing the place and retiring to the mountains, or of re- 
inforcing their numbers and making a fresh attack on 
the Christians, they returned with peaceful disposi- 
tions, begging the wounded to be cared for, and 
evincing, in their manner, a certain salutary fear and 
respect, which the recent defeat had created in their 
minds." 

Undismayed by the formidable difficulties that envi- 
roned him, the venerable missionary pursued his apos- 
tolic labors with undiminished ardor. When the 
highest civil functionary at San Diego, finding that 
the supply of provisions was insufficient for more than 
a few weeks, and despairing of the safety of the vessel 
dispatched to the coast of New Spain for the necessa- 
ries of life — as the country was unable to afford the 
means of subsistence — informed the Fathers " that 
unless the vessel appeared by the 20th of March (the 
feast of St. Joseph, the patron of the Missions), he 
would embark the entire expedition, abandon the 
country, and return to Old California," the Father- 
President, we are informed, " determined to remain, 
and to trust to divine Providence for his support and 
protection ; but to retain the expedition was his prin- 
cipal concern. For this, one only means seemed capa- 
ble of success — holy and fervent prayer, by which 
innumerable triumphs have been gained by the faith- 
ful in every age." It occurred to the Father that, 
through the intercession of St. Joseph, fervent peti- 
tions would find acceptance before the throne of God. 



136 OUK CENTENNIAL MEMOIE. 

A No vena was begun, to be concluded on the 20th 
of March, the day fixed for departure. On the even- 
ing of the nineteenth — the last day of the exercises — 
the long-expected San Antonio appeared. In com- 
memoration of the occurrence the venerable mis- 
sionary, who had never ceased to put his trust in the 
Almighty, and who recognized, with a heart overflow- 
ing with gratitude, the special protection of Heaven, 
resolved to celebrate annually a Mass to St. Joseph. 
From San Diego, where he reclaimed from darkness 
and the shadow of death one thousand and forty-six 
souls, Father Junipero proceeded, in the San Antonio, 
to Monterey, whereof he writes to Father Palou. (The 
first portion of the letter is given in pp. 12 and 13 of 
the present work. We give the concluding paragraph :) 

" As it is a whole year since I received any letter from a Chris- 
tian country, your Reverence may suppose in what want we are 
of news ; but, for all that, I only ask you when you can get an 
opportunity to inform me what the most Holy Father, the reign- 
ing Pope, is called, that I may put his name in the canon of the 
Mass; also, to say if the canonization of the beatified Joseph 
Cupertino and Serafmo Asculi has taken place ; and if there is 
any other beatified one, or Saint, in order that I may put them 
in the calendar, and pray to them, we having, it would appear, 
taken our leave of all printed calendars. Tell me, also, if it is 
true that the Indians have killed Father Joseph Saler, in Sonora, 
and how it happened; and if there are any other friends deceased, 
in order that I may commend them to God ; with anything else 
that your Reverence may think fit to communicate to a few poor 
hermits, separated from human society. We proceed to-morrow 
to celebrate the feast and make the procession of Corpus Christi, 
(although in a very poor manner), in order to scare away what- 
ever little devils there possibly may be in this land. 

" Fe. Junipero Sebea." 



FATHER JUNIPERO. 137 

On the twenty-sixth of December, the first solemn 
baptism was performed by the Beligious at the Mis- 
sion of Monterey. We learn that, at the end of the 
third year from the date of their arrival, one hun- 
dred and seventy-five of the natives had been received 
into the Church. 

In May, 1773, the followers of St. Dominic de Guz- 
man having assumed charge of the Missions in Lower 
California, the sons of St. Francis, led by their Father- 
President, concentrated their force in Upper Califor- 
nia, where " they quickly produced most remarkable 
results in the reduction of the country and the con- 
version of the natives/' A Mission, under the invo- 
cation of St. Anthony of Padua, was established in 
the mountains of Santa Lucia, which yielded abundant 
fruit. Having changed the site of the Mission of San 
Carlos to a more favorable position, Father Junipero . 
"transported there the neophytes and the cattle, and 
made it the headquarters for himself, never leaving it 
till the time of bis death, except when engaged in 
establishing or visiting other establishments. At the 
same time, conformably to his orders, the Mission of 
San Gabriel was founded by Fathers Cambon and 
Somera, to the north of San Diego." Here the hos- 
tility of the Indians, under their chiefs, was appeased 
by the exhibition of a banner representing our Lady 
of Dolors. Before his departure from San Diego for 
Mexico, in October, 1772, the Father-President had 
founded the Missions of San Diego, San Carlos at 
Monterey, San Antonio, San Gabriel and San Luis 
Obispo. During his journey his life was in peril from 



■ 



138 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

a severe attack of malignant fever. His requests hav- 
ing been granted by the Viceroy. Father Junipero left 
the Mexican capital in the autumn of 1773 for the 
scene of his labors, accompanied by several missiona- 
ries, officers and soldiers, and supplied with a large 
stock of provisions. Compelled to put into the har- 
bor of San Diego, Father Junipero proceeded by land, 
with a few companions, with the view of visiting the 
Missions. An additional Mission, dedicated to San 
Juan Capistrano, was established between San Diego 
and San Gabriel — an event the joy of which was 
dimmed by the murder of Father Luis Jayme and the 
attempted destruction of the Mission. When the sad 
intelligence reached the Religious at Monterey, the 
Father-President, we are told, exclaimed: " Thanks 
be to God, now the land has been watered, now the 
reduction of the people will be effected." The pres- 
ence of the Father-President upon the scene of 
conflict, as soon as he could leave Monterey, contrib- 
uted in a great measure to the restoration of peace 
and the resumption of the work of conversion among 
the gentiles. At the Missions of San Luis, San 
Gabriel and San Antonio, which he subsequently 
visited, the prospect, in a spiritual point of view, was 
most encouraging. Of the Missions of San Francisco 
and Santa Clara some notice will be found elsewhere. 
That the afflictions endured, with heroic fortitude, 
by this venerable servant of God were not wholly due 
to the ferocious savagery of the gentiles — the most 
degraded of mankind — is clear from the account which 
follows : 



FA THEE JTJNIPERO. 139 

" On taking possession of the Missions of Lower California in 
1668, Father Junfpero learned that, in consideration of the diffi- 
culty of visiting the Missions, his Holiness Pope Benedict XIV. 
of illustrious memory, had conferred on the Fathers the privilege 
of administering the holy sacrament of Confirmation. As the 
same difficulty and necessity still existed, the Father-President, 
in order that the Christians might not be deprived of such a sin- 
gular blessing, wrote to his superiors in Mexico, requesting 
them to apply to the Sovereign Pontiff for a like faculty for his 
brethren . The application was made and favorably received by 
the then reigning Pope, Clement XIV., who, for the reasons 
alleged, granted the same faculty for a period of ten years to the 
President of the Missions, and four others to be nominated by 
him. Immediately on receiving this power, Father Junfpero 
lost no time in exercising it in behalf of his people.. On the 
twenty-fifth of August, 1778, after administering the sacred rit^e 
to those prepared for it at his Mission of Monterey, he proceeded 
to the South, where he remained actively engaged till January of 
the following year, when he returned to San Carlos. Here he 
occupied himself in instructing and baptizing the neophytes, 
feeling happy that the work of the Missions was advancing as 
steadily and satisfactorily as could be reasonably expected; but 
this happiness, so natural in his case, was presently embittered, 
for at this time he was made acquainted of the appointment by 
the Supreme Council of Mexico of the Chevalier de la Croix as com- 
mandant and captain-general of the Calif ornias. De la Croix was 
of all others the last man the Fathers would like to see appointed; 
he was entirely a different person from Bucarreli, for, although 
he affected to be in the interests of the missionaries, and desirous 
of promoting the cause of religion, he showed by his acts how 
unreal were his assertions. Amongst other impediments, which 
at the outset he threw in their way, may be mentioned that of 
preventing Father Junfpero from exercising the faculty of con- 
firming. On the plea that the Brief bestowing the privilege of 
confirming had not received the sanction of the government 
authorities, though in reality it had been submitted to and 
received the approval of the royal council of Madrid and the 



140 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

sanction of the authorities at Mexico, he prohibited the Father 
using it further till an order should be received to that effect 
from the Viceroy. No amount of reasoning or explanation could 
move him from his purpose, and so the Father had to submit to an 
order as capricious as unjust. The matter being finally referred 
to his Excellency, instructions were received not to interfere with 
the President of the Missions in the exercise of his duty, and 
even to grant him every facility for the discharge of his ministry. 
During the time that the decision was pending, Father 
Junfpero,in obedience to the order of the commandant, carefully 
abstained from exercising his right to confirm. He did not even 
make any visits to the other Missions, but occupied himself 
exclusively in instructing his flock at San Carlos. The decision 
was received in the month of September, 1781, when he resumed 
the exercise of his faculties, which should never have been sus- 
pended or even questioned, by the Governor. After confirming 
those prepared at the Missions of San Carlos and San Antonio, 
Father Junipero set out for the purpose of visiting the Missions 
of San Francisco and Santa Clara. This was not the first time 
he had been to these establishments, for, shortly after their 
foundation, he had paid them a visit. He was accompanied on 
the journey by his friend and disciple, Father Crespi, who was 
desirous of seeing the progress that religion was making in these 
parts. This was in the year 1781, and they arrived at the Bay 
on the twenty-sixth of October, where they remained till the 
ninth of November. During this time Father Junipero admin- 
istered the Sacrament of Confirmation to all who had been con- 
verted since his previous visit, as also to those of the Mission of 
Santa Clara. The Father-President was now destined to under- 
go a loss which could not be readily repaired. While returning 
to San Carlos, a few days before arriving at home, his venerable 
friend and companion, Father Crespi, fell ill. We are not told 
what was the character of his sickness, but from the beginning 
it appears he had a presentiment of his speedy dissolution. 
Feeling that the hand of Death was upon him he prepared him- 
self with much fervor for the reception of the last Sacraments, 
and with great confidence and love of God, resigned his soul in- 



FATHER JUNIPEEO. 141 

to the hands of his Creator, on the first of January, 1782, being 
then in the sixty-first year of his age, and the thirtieth of his 
missionary career."* 

The last years of the Father-President's eventful 
life, witnessed the founding of three Missions in the 
region immediately opposite the channel of Santa 
Barbara, between San Diego and Monterey, as well 
as the establishment of the pueblo of Los Angeles. 
After a visit to San Francisco, Father . Junipero 
returned, in poor health, to Monterey, where he 
departed this life, in the odor of sanctity, on the 28th 
of August, 1784. In Upper California, eight Missions 
and five thousand eight hundred souls reclaimed from 
spiritual darkness, attested his apostolic labors. 
"He ended his laborious life," says Father Palou, 
" at the age of seventy years, nine months and four 
days, after having passed fifty-three years, eleven 
months and thirteen days in religion, and thirty-five 
years, four months and thirteen days, in the apostolic 
ministry, during which time he performed the glorious 
actions we have seen. He lived in continual activity, 
occupied in virtuous and holy exercises and wonder- 
ful exertions, all directed to the greater honor and 
glory of God, and the salvation of souls. " 



History of the Catholic Church in California, "by W. G-leeson, M. A. 



142 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

The Dominican Missions in Lower California. 



TN May, 1773, the Religious of the Order of St. 
A Dominic de Guzman assumed charge, by virtue of 
a rescript issued in the name of his Catholic Majesty, 
Charles III. of Spain and the Indies, of the Missions 
in Lower California founded by the regular clergy of 
the Society of Jesus, and subsequently served by 
Religious of the Order of St. Francis de Asis. The 
Missions entrusted to the Dominicans extended from 
San Diego to Cape San Lucas. Received with joy, 
respect and veneration by Cortez on their arrival in 
Mexico in June, 1526, the Friars Preachers had long 
illustrated, in the vast Aztec Empire subjugated by 
Spain, the devotion and fortitude which, at an earlier 
period, crushed the errors of the Albigenses in Langue- 
doc and delivered Europe from an impious thral j 
dom. In the Old World and the New, the victory had 
been won by the institution of the Rosary, the fruit 
of a special revelation from the Mother of God to St. 
Dominic. "Unless," said our Blessed Lady, "this 
celestial dew enriches the ungrateful soil, it will ever 
remain unfruitful." Among the first missionaries of 
the Order of Friars Preachers in Mexico were Fathers 
Thomas Ortez, Vincent of St. Mary, Thomas of Ber- 
lenga, Dominic of Soto and Just of St. Dominic — 
venerable servants of God, whose labors were wor- 
thy of Fathers Salva Tierra, Ktihno and Junfpero. 
Although, if we may judge from the terms of the 
Royal warrant from Madrid, the Franciscans were re- 
quested to make over to the Dominicans only a few of 



THE DOMINICAN FATHERS. 143 

the Missions, Father Junipero and his brother Reli- 
gious deemed it prudent, for the greater glory of God, 
to offer the whole of their spiritual charge in Lower 
California to the Friars Preachers. The proposition 
was accepted and ratified by the Viceroy in April, 
1772. That the feeling of fraternal love which in the 
mediaeval past animated the sons of St. Dominic and 
St. Francis, has not diminished, is apparent from the 
annexed circular addressed by the late Father Fran- 
cisco Diego, Superior of the Franciscans on this coast, 
and subsequently the immediate predecessor, as first 
Bishop of Monterey, of his Grace the Most Rev. Arch- 
bishop Alemany : 

" To the Reverend Fathers of San Jose, San Francisco de Asis, San 
Rafael, San Francisco Solano, Santa Cruz, San Juan Bautista 
and, San Carlos of Monterey : 
' ' Veneeated Fathers and Beloved Bkothebs : — The Rev- 
erend Father-President of the Missions of Lower California 
Father Thomas Aumada, has made known to me that the 
Eeverend Fathers thereof have enjoyed, during many years, a 
spiritual brotherhood with the Reverend Father Missionaries of 
Upper California, and that having succeeded to the charge of the 
Missions once occupied by the Fathers of the North, he desires 
and prays that the same brotherhood may still continue on the 
conditions which formerly existed. The mutual obligation agreed 
upon by the Missions of Upper and Lower California is to cele- 
brate three Masses for each deceased Religious belonging thereto; 
and I, desiring that nothing be changed in this respect which 
may tend to consolidate and rivet the bonds of charity and union, 
and, at the same time, to give to the Dominican Fathers another 
proof of our affection, and to evince our gratitude for the many 
charitable offices performed in our behalf on our arrival at their 
Missions, pray that your Reverences may accept the brotherhood 
which the worthy Prelate has been so kind as to offer you. 

"Fr. Francisco Diego. 
" Santa Clara, June 12, 1838." 



lttJ: OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

A similar agreement, we are informed, was made in 
1854, between the Dominicans in California and the 
Franciscans of Santa Barbara. 

In 1843, according to M. de Mofras, the following 
Missions in Lower Calif ornia were under the direction 
of the Dominican Fathers of the Convent of Santiago 
in Mexico : San Miguel, Santa Catalina, Santo Tomas, 
San Vicente, Santo Domingo, Nuestra Sefiora del 
Rosario, San Fernando de Villecata, La Purisima 
(destroyed), San Luis (destroyed), Todos los Santos, 
Real de San Antonio (then the capital), San Francisco 
de Borja, Santa Gertrudis, San Ignacio, Santa Mag- 
dalena, Nuestra Sefiora de Guadalupe, Santa Rosalia 
de Moleje, San Jose Comandu, Nuestra Sefiora de 
Loreto (the former capital), San Francisco Xavier, 
San Jose del Cabo, and La Paz. The Edue, Pericue, 
Cochimie, Cora and Mouqui Indians, who at one time 
constituted the population of Lower California, no 
longer form distinct tribes, and are numerically insig- 
nificant. When De Mofras visited the country, in 
1843, the once flourishing Missions of San Miguel and 
Nuestra Sefiora de Guadalupe — the latter founded by 
Father Cavallero, President of the Dominican Mis- 
sions — possessed only some three hundred Indians, 
and those of Real Loreto and Santo Tomas, a few hun- 
dred inhabitants respectively. The other Missions, 
for the most part, were completely abandoned. At 
San Francisco de Borja there were but six Indians; 
at San Ignacio, four families of the Spanish race; 
while at Jesus Maria there was not a single inhabi- 
tant. Here and there, at other Missions, might be 



THE DOMINICAN FATHEKS. 145 

perceived a few small farms cultivated by white labor; 
and the preeminent French observer notes that the 
Mission of San Vicente, in the neighborhood of which 
was organized a kind of pueblo, was the only one in 
Lower California which retained troops — a company 
of twenty soldiers stationed at that point to repel the 
incursions of the Yuma Indians, whose stronghold 
was on the right bank of the Bio Colorado. At the 
Mission of San Jose del Cabo died the illustrious 
savant, Father Chappe d' Auteroche, who had been 
sent by the Royal Academy of Sciences to observe the 
transit of Venus on the disk of the sun, which took 
place on the 3d of June, 1769. The French Acade- 
mician was accompanied by two distinguished officers 
of the Spanish navy. They determined, with preci- 
sion, the position of Cape San Lucas. 

As Lower California possesses no rivers, its aridity 
is extreme. The climate is very hot and dry. The 
territory contains some good harbors, and abounds in 
mineral wealth. The gold and silver mines of Real 
de San Antonio and the Mission of Santa Rosalia for- 
merly attracted many laborers ; and in other parts of 
the territory the industrial resources are described as 
remarkable. While the soil, it would appear, in the 
environs of the Missions of Rosario, San Vicente, 
Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe, San Miguel, and Santo 
Tomas is prolific and susceptible of cultivation, it 
must, however, be allowed that Lower California, re- 
claimed from barbarism by the clergy of the Society 
of Jesus, presented, at the outset, from its natural 



146 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

disadvantages, greater obstacles to missionary enter- 
prise than the territory subsequently reduced to civili- 
zation by the Franciscan Fathers. 

To the Very Rev. Father Vilarrasa, Commissary 
General and Superior of the Order of Preachers in 
California, we are indebted for the subjoined extract 
from the Acts of the General Chapter of the Domini- 
can Order, held in Rome in 1777, which are kept in 
the archives of the Master-General of the Order : 

11 We notify that the Catholic King of Spain, Charles 
III., through his singular benignity towards our Order, 
entrusted to our Religious of the Province of St. James 
of Mexico the care of fourteen Missions in California, 
and that twenty priests of the Order, with two lay- 
brothers, were conveyed there from Spain at the Royal 
expense, who, on their arrival, began to cultivate with 
so much zeal the vineyard entrusted to them that soon 
after, they, with God's assistance, led more than two 
thousand idolaters to the Christian religion, and 
founded two new Missions. Wherefore, we earnestly 
hope that all those barbarians shall be brought from 
the miserable slavery of the Devil to the knowledge 
and worship of the one and true God." 

The cession of the Missions of Lower California to 
the Dominicans is thus described in the Exploration 
du Territoire de V Oregon, des Calif ornies et de la Mer 
Vermeille, by De Mof ras : " In the year 1771 f the Mar- 
quis de la Croix's term of office as Viceroy having ex- 
pired, was succeeded by the Baili de Bucarelli. The 
Dominicans of Mexico obtained a royal rescript (une 
cedule Roy ale du Roi d'Espagne), by which the Francis- 



THE DOMINICAN FATHERS. 147 

cans were ordered to surrender to the Dominicans 
the administration of one or two Missions. The Bev- 
erend Guardian of the College of St. Fernando re- 
marked, with reason, that the province of Lower Cali- 
fornia (where most of the Missions were at that time), 
could not be divided, that its limits were well de- 
fined, and that serious inconveniences would arise if 
the two Orders were found in competition in the same 
territory. He concluded by offering to the Domini- 
cans, in case they would take exclusive charge of the 
whole province (of Lower California) from Cape San 
Lucas to the port of San Diego, to cede to them, 
together with all the Missions then lately administered 
by the Jesuits, also that of San Fernando de Ville- 
cata, and the five others which were yet to be estab- 
lished there. The Viceroy assembled the Council, 
and on April 30, 1772, decreed that the above agree- 
ment should be carried into effect. It was not, how- 
ever, until the 1st of May of the following year that 
the Dominicans entered into definitive possession of 
Lower California, and that the Franciscans retired 
into Upper California; where, being able to concen- 
trate (concentrer) all their efforts upon a territory less 
extensive and more fertile, they soon obtained re- 
sults which command admiration. At the end of 
fourteen years, Father Junipero, who died in 1784, 
had already founded fifteen Missions of Indians, or 
villages of Spanish colonists."* 

In California, the Order of St. Dominic is happily 
flourishing. In 1850, the first church at Sacramento, 

* De Mofras, volume 1, page 259. 






148 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

under the invocation of St. Rose of Lima, was erected 
by Rev. Father Peter Augustine Anderson, O. P., of 
the Province of St. Joseph, U. S., who died in that 
city from cholera. His remains were brought to Benicia 
in 1854. At Martinez, Yallejo, Antioch, Pachecoville, 
Somersville, Concord and Benicia, churches have been 
built by the Friars Preachers; in San Francisco, two 
tasteful structures, dedicated to St. Bridget and St. 
Dominic, stand as monuments of their zeal and energy; 
while, on the other hand, strange to say, the church 
of St. Francis de Asis, in the same city, one of the 
most elegant ecclesiastical edifices in the State, owes 
its completion to the apostolic labors and noble charity 
of the Dominican Fathers. 



The Church in California 

AS IT IS. 



IN October, 1840, the Right Rev. Dr. Garcia Diego y 
Moreno, of the Order of St. Francis, was conse- 
crated Bishop of Upper and Lower California. A 
native of Mexico, and some time Professor of Theo- 
logy in a Franciscan convent in the land of his birth, 
Dr. Garcia Diego y Moreno was, at the period of his 
elevation to the episcopacy by Pope Gregory XVI. , 
Commissary-prefect of the Missions of Upper Califor- 
nia. On the death of the venerable .prelate, which 
took place at Santa Barbara, April 30, 1846, the late 
Yery Rev. Father Gonzales, Superior of the Francis- 
can Order in Upper California, became administrator 
of the diocese ad interim, the duties whereof he 
discharged until the appointment of the Most Rev. 
Joseph Sadoc Alemany, O. P., who was con- 
secrated Bishop of Monterey, June 30, 1850, and 
translated to the Metropolitan See of San Francisco 
July 29, 1853. Born in 1814, at Yich, in Catalonia— 
a province of Spain, essentially Progresista in the 
real rather than the political meaning of the word — 
whose enterprising sons furnished the earliest Chris- 
tian pioneers of South and Central America, Mexico 
and California, and whose literary fame has been 
illustrated by Balmes, the then Father Alemany was 
Provincial of his Order in the United States at the 



150 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

time of his appointment by the Sovereign Pontiff to 
the episcopal charge of Upper and Lower California. 
Compelled, like the Irish ecclesiastical students of a 
former age, to seek refuge on foreign shores from the 
persecution of a bad government, the youthful candi- 
date for the priesthood arrived in the Eternal City in 
1836. It was the unhappy era of so-called Liberalism 
in the Iberian Peninsula when, under the auspices of 
the British Minister at Madrid, Sir George Villiers, 
subsequently known as Earl of Clarendon, Lord Lieu- 
tenant of Ireland, parasites and proteges of Lord Pal- 
merston like Espartero and Mendizabal robbed the 
Church and pursued the Keligious Orders with a ma- 
lignity which the Chancellor of the German Empire 
seems to emulate in our own day. Ordained priest at 
Viterbo, in the Roman States , in 1837, where he held the 
office of sub-master of novices, Father Alemany subse- 
quently discharged the duties of an assistant priest in 
the Dominican Church at Rome, popularly known as 
the Minerva. In 1840 Father Alemany arrived in the 
United States, having, with another member of his 
Order — the Rev. Father Francis Cubero — volun- 
teered for the Mission in the State of Tennessee, 
at the urgent request of the Right Rev. Dr. Miles, 
of the Order of Preachers, Bishop of Nashville. At 
Memphis, where from his missionary labors in St. 
Peter's Church, the name of the Archbishop of San 
Francisco is still remembered with deep affection and 
reverence, he resided for some years. In 1848 he was 
appointed Provincial of his Order in the United 
States, having filled the position of President of the 
Diocesan Seminary of Nashville with eminent distinc- 



I 



THE CHURCH IN CALIFORNIA 151 

tion. In J-850 Father Alemany left for Eome in 
order to be present at the General Chapter of the 
Dominican Order, and, on his arrival in the capital of 
the Christian world, was consecrated Bishop of Mon- 
terey, and, as we have had occasion to mention, sub- 
sequently translated to the diocese of San Francisco, 
which then comprised the portions of California and 
Nevada lying between the Pacific Ocean and the Colo- 
rado River, and between 37° T and 42° North lat., 
and which in 1860 extended north only to the 39th 
degree, the remainder being erected into what is now 
the diocese of Grass Valley. 

The Very Be v. Father Vilarrasa arrived in the Uni- 
ted States from Eome in 1844, and remained until 

1849, when he returned to the Eternal City, and, in 

1850, came to California with Archbishop Alemany. 
Among the institutions of the diocese, are the fol- 
lowing : 

St. Mary's College, under the direction of the 
Christian Brothers, Rev. Brother Justin, Visitor, 
President. Number of students, over 250. 

Female Orphan Asylum, South San Francisco, con- 
ducted by the Sisters of Charity. Sister Francis 
McEnnis, Superioress, assisted by thirty Sisters. 
Orphans, four hundred. 

Mount St. Joseph, Silver Terrace, branch of the 
Female Orphan Asylum, Foundling and Lying-in Hos- 
pital conducted by twelve Sisters of Charity. Number 
of children and infants, two hundred and fifteen. 

Auxiliary Orphan Asylum in Hayes Valley. Num- 
ber of Orphans, thirty. Mission school for boys; 
number of pupils, one hundred and fifty. 



152 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

Sacred Heart Presentation Convent, corner of 
Taylor and Ellis streets. Sister Mary Teresa Comer- 
ford, Superior, assisted by twenty-three professed 
Sisters, six novices and six postulants. Number of 
pupils attending school, eight hundred to nine hun- 
dred. 

Presentation Convent and Free School, Powell 
street, Mother Mary Xavier Daly, Superior, assisted by 
twent3 T -six professed Sisters, five novices and six pos- 
tulants. Children attending the school, seven hun- 
dred. 

Hospital and Mercy House, conducted by the 
Sisters of Mercy, corner of Bryant and First streets, 
Mother Mary Joseph O'Rourke, Superior, assisted by 
twenty professed Sisters, six novices, and five postu- 
lants. 

St. Joseph's School, conducted by the Sisters of 
Mercy. Number of pupils, three hundred and fifty. 

St. Rose's School for girls, corner Fourth and Bran- 
nan streets, conducted by six Sisters of St. Dominic. 
Number of pupils, two hundred. 

Convent of the Sisters of Notre Dame, at the Mis- 
sion Dolores, select school for young ladies conducted 
by a branch of the Sisters of Notre Dame, of the 
Academy of San Jose. Number of pupils, four hun- 
dred. 

Magdalen Asylum, on the old San Bruno road, con- 
ducted by eight Sisters of Mercy. Number of in- 
mates, one hundred and five. 



THE CHURCH IN CALIFORNIA. 153 

Free School for boys, attached to St. Mary's Cathe- 
dral, corner of California and Dupont streets; pupils, 
one hundred. 

Free School, for boys, attached to the Church of 
St. Francis, Vallejo street. Number of pupils one 
hundred and fifty. 

Free School, for boys, attached to St. Patrick's, 
Mission street. Pupils three hundred. 

St. Joseph's School, for girls, conducted by the 
Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary. Num- 
of pupils, three hundred. School for boys at- 
tached to St. Joseph's, Tenth street. Pupils, four 
hundred. i 

St. Ignatius' College, Market street, conducted by 
the Fathers of the Society of Jesus. Very Rev. 
Aloysius Masnata, S. J., Superior; Rev. P. Bayma, S. 
J., President; Rev. J. Pinasco, S. J., Vice-President 
and Prefect of School, and many Professors. Num- 
ber of pupils, six hundred. 

Sacred Heart College, corner of Eddy and Larkin 
streets, conducted by the Christian Brothers, for day 
scholars. Number of pupils, seven hundred. 

Male Orphan Asylum, San Rafael, Marin County, 
directed by Very Rev. James Croke. Orphans, about 
three hundred. 

Dominican Convent, Benicia, Very Rev. Francis S. 
Vilarrasa, O. P., Superior, and eight Fathers, two- 
students and four lay-brothers. 

Novitiate of the Christian Brothers, Oakland. 
Number of Brothers, ten; novices, eight. A select 
school is conducted by the Brothers. 
*7 



154 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

Santa Clara College, directed by the Fathers of the 
Society of Jesus. Students, two hundred and fifty, 
besides forty others attending day school, taught by 
Professors of the College. The Rev. Father Bru- 
nengo, S. J., has recently succeeded the learned and 
esteemed Rev. Father Varsi, S. J., as President of 
the College. 

St. Catherine's Convent and Female Academy, 
Benicia, under the care of the Sisters of St. Dominic. 
Twenty professed Sisters and six novices. Pupils, 
one hundred. 

Convent and Academy of Notre Dame, Pueblo of 
San Jose, chartered by the State in 1868, conducted 
by the Sisters of Notre Dame. Sister Mary Cornelia, 
Superior, assisted by thirty Sisters. Boarders, two 
hundred; day-scholars, one hundred and fifty. Free 
scholars in separate schools, two hundred and fifty. 
Sunday-school girls, two hundred and eighty; boys, 
fifty. ' 

Convent and Academy of the Most Holy Names, con- 
ducted by the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and 
Mary, Oakland. Pupils, one hundred and fifteen. 

St. Vincent's School, Mission and Third streets, 
San Francisco, conducted by the Sisters of Charity. 
Number of pupils, three hundred. 

St. Vincent's School for girls, at Petaluma, Sonoma 
County, conducted by the Sisters of Charity. Sister 
Mary Catherine, Sister-Servant. Pupils, one hundred 
and fifty. 

Free Schools, for girls, at Oakland, conducted by 
the same Sisters. Pupils, one hundred. 



THE CHURCH IN CALIFORNIA. 155 

Santa Clara's Young Lady's Day School, by the 
Sisters of Notre Dame. Number of pupils, one hun- 
dred. 

St. Patrick's College, Sacramento, conducted by 
the Christian Brothers. Number of pupils, one hun- 
dred. 

Free School, for girls, at Sacramento, conducted by 
the Sisters of Mercy. Pupils, three hundred. 

Free School, for girls, at Pueblo of San Jose, di- 
rected by the Sisters of Notre Dame. Pupils, one 
hundred and twenty-five. 

Free School, for boys, at Sonora, Tuolumne County. 
Number of pupils, seventy-five. 

Free School, at Stockton, San Joaquin County, 
attached to St. Mary's church. Pupils, one hundred 
and seventy-five. 

Free and Pay Schools, for girls, at Vallejo, in charge 
of the Sisters of St. Dominic. Number of pupils, 
two hundred and fifty. 

Free School, for girls, at Petaluma, directed by the 
Sisters of Charity. Pupils, sixty. 

St. Gertrude's Academy, Kio Vista, conducted by 
the Sisters of Mercy. 

In the Territory of Utah, temporarily placed by the 
Holy See under the administration of his Grace the 
Most Rev. Archbishop of San Francisco, there are, in 
addition to the Church of St. Mary Magdalen, at Salt 
Lake City, and two Chapels at Corinne and Ogden, 
served by two priests of the diocese, St. Mary's 
Academy, conducted by the Sisters of the Holy Cross, 
Mother Mary Augusta, Superioress, the number 



156 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

of pupils being- one hundred and fifty, and the hos- 
pital in the Mormon capital, attended by the same 
Sisters. 

While the Catholic population in the diocese of 
San Francisco amounts at present to some one hun- 
dred and twenty thousand, there are belonging to the 
same ninety-three churches, sixteen chapels, one hun- 
dred and twenty-one priests — fifty-one regular and 
seventy secular — twenty theological students, five 
Colleges, nine Academies, thirty-five select and par- 
ochial schools, four Asylums and five Hospitals. 

When it is recollected that, in 1.849, a small wooden 
shanty erected upon the site of the present tasteful 
Church of St. Francis, Vallejo street, was, with the 
exception of the church of the Mission Dolores, the 
only house of prayer in the commercial metropolis 
of the Pacific coast, the march of Catholic progress 
is evident. In June, 1851, a temporary chapel, under 
the invocation of the Apostle of Ireland — since 
replaced by the spacious structure on Mission street — 
was opened for public worship on Market street, 
the pastor Rev. Father Maginnis, who divided his 
services between St. Francis' church and St. Patrick's, 
being the only priest then in San Francisco who 
preached in the English language. After a time, fol- 
lowed the erection of the church and schools of St. 
Ignatius on Market street — at first small and insig- 
nificant, indeed, in dimensions — and subsequently, in 
close proximity to the original site, the present large 
and costly structures, rich with gilding, and suffused 
with the splendor and glowing with the bloom of 



THE CHURCH IN CALIFORNIA. 157 

Italian art — that music, which, to adapt the thought of 
Lamartine, is to the eye what the strains of ftossini's 
Stabat Mater are to the ear — and the numerous reli- 
gious edifices throughout the city which are monuments 
of the piety and munificence of the Catholic com- 
munity. 

As if to stimulate the faithful to sustained effort, 
and to dispel, by virtuous example, the clouds of anti- 
Catholic intolerance which for a time blackened all 
the horizon, the consecrated virgins of Catholic Sister- 
hoods landed upon our shores. From the quiet 
shades of St. Joseph's community, at Emmittsburg, 
in Maryland (the Mother-house of the Order in the 
United States), came the daughters of St. Vincent de 
Paul, on their mission of love to the orphan; and, 
somewhat later, from the Island of Saints, the Sisters 
of Mercy — ministering angels and true children of the 
Mater Misericordice — to teach the ignorant, to reclaim 
from sin and shame the unfortunate Magdalen, to 
tend the sick and destitute, and to whisper solace and 
hope to the dying. Nor should the labors of the 
Sisters of St. Dominic, the Sisters of Notre Dame, 
the Nuns of the Presentation Order, and the other re- 
ligious communities of females in the diocese and 
ecclesiastical Province of San Francisco, be forgotten 
in this brief notice of Catholic progress in California 
and Nevada. 

THE PONTIFICAL FESTIVAL. 

On the second day of July, 1871, the Catholic citi- 
zens of San Francisco, assisted by delegations from 



158 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

the interior, celebrated with unbounded enthusiasm 
the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Pontificate of his 
Holiness, Pope Pius IX. Fifty thousand of the devoted 
children of the Holy Father participated in the mani- 
festation of fidelity and filial love. The procession, 
numbering- at least fourteen thousand persons by actual 
count, extended five miles in length, and was charac- 
terized by a leading organ of public opinion as the 
largest that ' ' has ever walked the streets of San Fran- 
cisco, and, in proportion to population, has not been 
exceeded by any in the United States. " In all the 
churches of the city, many of which were decorated 
with the Papal colors — white and yellow — High Mass 
was celebrated, and sermons were delivered indicating 
the grandeur of the occasion and the services rendered 
to civilization by the august dynasty of the Sovereign 
Pontiffs. The Grand Marshal and his Chief Aids 
were escorted by the Colonel and Staff of the Third 
Regiment of Infantry, and the First Division consisted 
of mounted squadrons of the National Guard, and 
barouches containing his Grace the Most Reverend 
Archbishop Alemany and the Right Reverend Bishop 
O'Connell, of Grass Valley, attended by members of 
the secular and regular clergy, and many prominent 
citizens. Among the conspicuous features of the pro- 
cession were nineteen cars draped with alternate folds 
of white and yellow cloth, bearing twenty-five young 
ladies each, and " symbolizing," as the Orator of the 
Day observed, ' ' the nineteen centuries of the Chris- 
tian era." The universality of the Catholic Church 
was illustrated in the procession by delegations of the 



THE CHURCH IN CALIFORNIA. 159 

French, Irish, Sclavonian, Chileno, English, Peruvian, 
Polish, Spanish, Californian, Brazilian, Kanaka, Aus- 
trian, Norwegian, Greek, Australian, Panamaian , Mex- 
ican, Chinese, Italian, Russian, Scotch, Quatemalean, 
Prussian, Bavarian, Indian and African nationalities. 
The programme of the Pavilion comprised the Amer- 
ican "National Anthem," by all the Bands, the "Hymn 
of Pius IX.," Oration by Hon. Zach Montgomery, 
Reading of Dispatch to his Holiness, Grand Te Deum, 
and Benediction by the Most Reverend Archbishop. 
" The audience," it is stated in the account of the 
proceedings in the local press, " numbering probably 
not less than ten thousand people, devoutly knelt, 
while his Grace pronounced the words of blessing, in 
a clear and distinct voice." In the subjoined Reso- 
lutions adopted unanimously, and amid the hearty 
cheers of the immense audience, is apparent the loyal 
spirit that animates the Catholics of California ; 

"The Catholics of San Francisco, assembled to celebrate the 
twenty -fifth anniversary of our Holy Father, *Pope Pius IX., do 
resolve as follows : 

"First — That we hereby tender our Holy Father, in all his 
trials, sufferings and persecutions, our deep, sincere and abiding 
sympathy. 

" Second — That to his Holiness, as the visible head of the true 
Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church of Christ our Lord, and to 
his successors in office, we hereby pledge our unswerving fidelity. 

" Third — That we regard that small territory composed of the 
Pontifical States as the rightful property of the entire Catholic 
world ; sanctified by the blood and tombs of her martyrs, enriched 
by our treasures of art and learning, and built up and sustained 
by our contributions and the work of our hands. 



160 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

" Fourth — That we consider the late forcible invasion and 
seizure of the same by King Victor Emanuel as cruel and unjust, 
and that such deserves the reprobation of all candid and just 
men." 

During the day a salute of twenty-five guns was 
fired, and fft night the illumination was general 
throughout the city. 

A SILVER JUBILEE. 

Eloquent proof, if such were needed, of the tri- 
umph of the Catholic cause in California, may be 
found in the homage tendered to the venerable Metro- 
politan of the Province of San Francisco on the occur- 
rence, in July, 1875, of the twenty-fifth anniversary of 
his Grace's episcopate. In the celebration of Arch- 
bkhop Alemany's Silver Jubilee the clergy and the 
laity of the Golden State alike participated. While 
in all the churches of the diocese the holy sacrifice of 
the Mass was offered up for the spiritual and temporal 
welfare of the Archbishop, High Mass was cele- 
brated at St. Mary's Cathedral by his Grace assisted 
by the Rev. Father Speckles as deacon; Rev. J. M. 
Cassin as sub-deacon; Rev. M. D. Slattery, first master 
of ceremonies; Rev. M. A. Bowman, second master 
.of ceremonies, and Very Rev. J. Prendergast, Vicar- 
General. Right Rev. Bishop Amat, CM., of Mon- 
terey and Los Angeles, Right Rev. Bishop O'Connell, 
of Grass Valley and Right Rev. Dr. Mora, Coadjutor 
Bishop of Monterey and Los Angeles, were present, 
as well as many of the secular and regular clergy of 
the Province. The attendance of the laity on the 



THE CHURCH IN CALIFORNIA. 161 

occasion was very numerous. At one o'clock a 
banquet was given in the basement of the Cathedral 
by the clergy to the Archbishop, who presented his 
Grace with a set of vestments, valued at $1,500. The 
following address was read on behalf of the clergy, 
and appropriately replied to by the Archbishop : 

"Most Eev. Archbishop: — The clergy of the archdiocese have 
thought this a fitting occasion on which to congratulate your 
Grace on the special and great favor which Almighty God has 
been pleased to show during the administration of the diocese 
committed to your care, to allude, for the first time, to the suc- 
cessful accomplishment of the work assigned to you by God, in 
this latest field of victorious Faith — to indorse ' your Grace's 
course in the past and to pledge our support to your endeavors 
in the future. * In our reflections on the cradle-days of Faith> 
that which strikes us as the most conspicuous and significant 
feature of the latest creation of divine wisdom and love — the 
Church — is the fact, that when our Blessed Lord launched the 
bark of salvation, he placed at her helm a pilot (Peter) to 
whom He committed her for the first quarter of the first of those 
many centuries during which she was to cruise over a world 
deluged with sin, bearing her precious burden of wrecked 
humanity to a haven of lasting calm, security and happiness. 
The occasion which brings us together to-day presents to us a 
scene analogous to the rising of the Sun of Eedemption in the 
East some nineteen centuries ago — namely, the dawning of its 
light in this latest and last field of Gospel triumph. And may 
we not discern a parallel disposition of Divine Providence inau- 
gurating the reignof revealed truth and heavenly morality in 
this sunset of Christendom — as we may justly call it — namely, 
the trust of the government of His Church to your Grace for a 
like period of twenty-five years. This special favor attests the 
approval of God, and argues well for the future career of the 
Church in California. 

" But the parallel does not end here — the formation and man- 
agement of new dioceses by the sub-division of older ones — 



162 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

• 

which is the usual course adopted — present but few if any diffi- 
culties other than such as are connected with the government of 
the old ones themselves; so that those who, by talent, learning 
and experience, become familiar with the workings, and are 
adjudged competent to hold part government of old dioceses* 
may easily assume control of new ones, whose people, customs 
and wants are similar to those in the fields they have just 
vacated. Especially true is this when we consider the young 
Bishop's access to the counsel of his old, experienced brother 
prelates, should any emergency require it. 

"Now, the work assigned by our Lord to his first Vicar, St. 
Peter, was new and unlike to anything before it. Having 
neither precedent to copy from, nor the experience of others to 
assist him, he was left to his own resources, aided solely by God. 
How like has been your mission ! Your Grace found yourself 
on these remote shores in the midst of a heterogeneous people, 
made up of portions of all the races on the globe, differing from each* 
other in national, political, social, religious, and moral traits; and 
it was yours to harmonize those conflicting elements in so far as 
religious unity demanded. The field of your labors was not old 
Christendom, but a new domain, unsettled and unformed — a 
field, sui generis, in which many of the rules of old countries, 
worse than useless, had, in fact, to be discarded and new 
rules framed as the new order of things demanded — a problem 
truly puzzling where experience, in many respects, rather ham- 
pered than helped. Old lessons in diocesan policy had often to be 
unlearned, and new plans to be devised and adopted. Another 
difficulty lay in the oft-changing and fast growirjg population 
and their wants; so that all the provisions designed by your 
Grace must needs be of such proportions as would meet the 
requirements of a progressive and varying future. Still greater 
courage, zeal,- -~ wisdom were demanded in your Grace's isola- 
tion from brother prelates, whose advice might have been of 
much service, had distance not precluded it; while the priests 
for the most part have been young and strange, and have had to 
rely on your counsel and guidance, rather than be able to assist 
you by theirs, as old missionaries might have done. But, like 



THE CHURCH IN CALIFORNIA. 163 

Peter, your Grace has bravely weathered the storm, skillfully 
piloted our bark clear of the shoals, and landed us safely in a 
goodly land, watered by the dews of heaven and abounding in 
the bread of life. 

"Under your Grace's administration the Church has fairly 
distanced all her competitors in this new field of religious rivalry. 
With scarcely equal advantages, and without any earthly favor, 
the State in general, and this metropolis in particular, have 
become more and more Catholic with the advance of years. In a 
remarkably short period of time the chief wants of the Christian 
people have been amply provided for, and the many conveniences 
enjoyed by older communities have been placed within their 
reach. We would fain dwell on the many and varied institutions 
of the diocese; but time forbids more at present than a passing 
and summary allusion to them. So numerous are these monu- 
ments of your Grace's wisdom, charity and zeal, that the em- 
blem of salvation surmounting them meets every eye. Hospitals 
supply a couch to the diseased and feeble. Asylums furnish a 
home to the orphan, and a refuge of reform to the victims of 
vice. Schools unfold their treasures of Christian wisdom and 
love. Convents afford to sensitive and fervent souls a sanctuary 
from the blighting blasts of worldiness. Churches everywhere 
open wide their doors to the suppliant; spacious sanctuaries are 
spread with the banquet of divine love. Altars*have been erected 
wherever the prophecy of Malachi has at length been literally 
and completely fulfilled, for ' in every place there is a sacrifice, 
and there is offered to my name a clean oblation . . . even 
to the going down of the sun.' 

"What more could you, or those who are most devoted to 
your Grace, wish for, if it be not the continuance of the triumphs 
already achieved ? The sub-division of the vast sphere of your 
labors into other dioceses, gives to those triumphs a character 
of permanence which assures their existence throughout time 
with the universal and indefectible Church of Christ. 

" We regard the success of your Grace's career and the conse- 
quent blessings we, your spiritual children, enjoy, as due, under 
God, to the assiduous cultivation and practice of Apostolic zeal, 



164 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

such as infuses into man's efforts far more continuous and untir- 
ing energy than any earthly interests could inspire— evidence 
that the sacrifices made under its influence are prompted by 
higher than material or ephemeral considerations of prudence — 
so necessary to moderate that zeal and to restrain the soul fired 
by it from blind and impetuous attempts to attain ends without 
the possession and use of proportionate means; of charity 
unbounded, making one all to all and suffering no distinction of 
persons, so indispensable to the leadership of the cosmopolitan 
association of humanity of which this community is composed; 
of simplicity, personal disinterestedness, self-privation and 
poverty, and other kindred virtues, with which God has been 
pleased to 'adorn the chief pastor of this diocese. 

"We have as yet said nothing of the feeble part which God 
has permitted ourselves to take in the grand work performed by 
your Grace; but modesty should not, on an occasion like this, 
prevent us from at least avowing our sincere and cherished 
attachment to your Grace — our readiness, ever and always, to 
spend our best efforts, and, if needs were ; to lay down our lives 
to secure the successful result of your Grace's undertakings. 
However conscious we may be of our own faults —and we know 
them well — we can appreciate noble deeds in a noble cause; and 
therefore we would fain take this opportunity of stamping our 
hearty endorsement on your Grace's labors, while we beg your 
indulgent forgiveness of our delinquencies in the past. For we 
are convinced that we have not been as deserving of your 
approval as you have been of our commendation, veneration, 
esteem and love. 

"Lastly, we would renew and repeat to-day the pledge given 
on our affiliation to the diocese, of our fealty to the sacred office, 
and our profession of undying devotion to the person of your 
Grace. We want no exchange for the guide whom God has 
graciously given to us. All we ask for are the virtues and graces 
required to make us faithful, willing and ready supporters of 
your Grace's endeavors for the welfare of the diocese in the 
future. And as some compensation to you for our many short- 
comings, we will pray, as we have prayed to-day, that our Divine 



THE CHURCH IN CALIFORNIA. 165 

Lord, who has already given to your Grace the years of His first 
Vicar, Peter, may continue them, through the years of His latest 
Vicar, Pius, and then on, till the measure of your Grace's merits 
can hold no more. 

"We beg, in conclusion, that your Grace will be pleased to 
accept the small offering which we present on this joyful day — 
not as a measure or guage, but as a token of the esteem and ven- 
eration of the priests of the diocese of San Francisco for their 
spiritual Father and chief." 

At three o'clock, many prominent Catholic citizens 
of San Francisco assembled in the parlors of the 
Archbishop's residence. When the applause that 
greeted his Grace's entrance subsided, Mr. A. H. 
Loughborough read the annexed address of the 
laity of San Francisco : 

" Most Kevebend and Beloved Fathee : — With joyful hearts 
your children celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of your epis- 
copate, and we come to offer you the cordial congratulations, 
and assure you of their sincere gratitude and devoted love. 

' ' With self-sacrificing zeal for religion you consented to leave 
the congenial quiet of your convent life, and, taking with you 
the humble habit and severe discipline of your Order, assume the 
arduous labors and responsible cares of the Episcopal See. The 
work of a pioneer bishop is ever Apostolic, but the history of 
no country affords a precedent for the peculiar obstacles to the 
culture of religion that were found in California during the 
early days of American occupation, and which to a great extent 
still continue to exist . Many of the difficulties that stood in the 
way of your great mission were apparent to all; but no doubt 
there were many more that have been buried in your patient 
silence. 

' ' Thanks to your assiduous and persevering toil for five and 
twenty years, the flock under your pastoral care enjoy to-day 
all the benefits of Catholic civilization. We have churches con- 
venient to almost every family, attended by zealous and efficient 



166 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

pastors, and filled with large and devout congregations; we have 
numerous schools and colleges, and hospitals and asylums, all 
conducted by the appropriate religious Orders of men and 
women consecrated to works of charity and the education of 
youth — in a word the prosperity of the Church has kept pace 
with the rapid growth of this young and vigorous State. 

" We do not forget, however, that the period which appears 
short for the accomplishment of so much wo*k, has brought the 
devoted laborer to the threshold of old age, and that, while the 
growth of the flock demands of this venerable pastor longer and 
more frequent journeys, and imposes on him new and more con- 
stant burdens, his wonted strength, if not nursed with more 
tender care, must soon begin to fail. In the hope, then, that 
you will, for the sake of your flock, use that precious strength 
more sparingly hereafter, and indulge it with at least some of the 
little comforts which it needs, but which your self-denial has 
heretofore rejected, we beg that you may be pleased to acccept 
the small donations contributed by a few friends, and offered on 
this happy occasion, with fervent prayers that Heaven may long 
preserve the life of our dear Archbishop." 

Mr. Loughborough then presented his Grace with a 
check for $5,000, the gift of the laity of San Francisco. 
The Archbishop, with emotion which was shared by 
all present, replied as follows : 

"Well, really, I have no words with which to answer these — 
I will not call them heresies, because there is no heresy except in 
the extravagant language employed; but I certainly ought to 
question the correctness and accuracy of the statements made. 
This is not my work. Of course, I could not resist the command 
of the Holy Father when he required and ordered me to come out 
here as an Apostolic Bishop. God, in His infinite goodness, has 
been pleased to grant the increase, I certainly think that all this 
talk is rather a compliment that is due to you and the general clergy 
of the Province of California. The constant, never failing, 
generous offerings and noble gifts of this Province, and particu- 



THE CHUECH IN CALIFORNIA. 167 

larly of this diocese, coupled with the generous spirit of co- 
operation, it is well known, has elevated the Church into what 
it is. The noble co-operation of the clergy, under the prov- 
idence of God, from the time that I had the pleasure of visit- 
ing Dublin, seems to have followed me here. It appears that 
some guardian angel sent me there, and from that time I have 
never failed to obtain a large accession of clergy, whose zeal 
has devoted their lives to the service of God upon these distant 
shores, in order to establish the Church and to sustain the 
interests of Religion. I therefore take occasion on this celebra- 
tion day, to thank heartily and sincerely all the Catholics of the 
diocese, .and of the Province, and all the clergy, for their hearty 
co-operation, and their candid feeling and wishes, and for these 
rich offerings. I hope Almighty God will bless you for the 
bountiful, noble and Apostolic success which the Church has 
met with on this coast." 

Miss Agnes Tobin, a daughter of Mr. Kichard 
Tobin, accompanied by Miss Bella Sullivan, read 
a filial address to his Grace, and presented a purse of 
money with a silver basket, which the Archbishop 
gratefully acknowledged, expressing at the same time 
the hope that the c ' rising Catholic youijg ladies would 
furnish abundant material for the work of Religion in 
the ranks of the holy women, who have left the world 
to follow Christ." After the announcement by the 
Very Rev. Father Prendergast, Vicar-General, that a 
carriage and pair of horses, the gift of Colonel Peter 
Donahue, were at the Archbishop's disposal, addresses 
were delivered by Miss Gates, of the Sacred Heart 
Convent, at Oakland, and Miss Lavinia O'Neill, on 
behalf of our Lady of Mercy's School, RinconHill, for 
which his Grace briefly returned thanks. The former 
young lady presented a model of a gondola worked 



168 OUK CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

in white satin embroidered in silver, and a silver dish 
and pitcher, and the latter, a silver basket and a 
purse containing $50. 

In the evening, after service in St. Mary's Cathe- 
dral, the members of the Catholic societies tendered 
their respectful homage and congratulations to the 
Archbishop. The subjoined address and reso- 
lutions, which were beautifully printed and illuminated 
in gold and colors and bound in red morocco by 
P. J. Thomas, were presented on behalf of St. 
Joseph's Benevolent Society: 

' ' Most Rkv. Deak Archbishop : The occurrence of the twenty- 
fifth anniversary of your translation to this Archdiocese is an 
occasion of congratulation to your faithful children. "While, in 
common with others, we deem it our pleasure to lay before you 
our duty and affection, we thank Almighty God for having spared 
you to us. Your administration, fraught with all the trials and 
anxieties of building up the Church in a new country, has been 
so successful, that it must be a cause of extreme joy to you, as 
our supreme pastor, to receive the united manifestations of 
approval by your flock. 

"We are but a fraction of the many institutions of charity and 
benevolence fostered and cherished by your paternal care. We 
have prospered; our membership has increased year by year, 
and the good we have done in the spirit of Christian charity and 
love receives its tone from your kind and watchful solicitude. 
May you live many years to sustain and see fulfilled to an ample 
fruition all the beautiful institutions which you have assisted to 
establish. May you also continue to receive our affection and 
love. And when the term of this life, which is so surely marked 
out for us all, has drawn to a close, may you bear to the happy 
destiny that awaits you our prayers and our gratitude. 

"At a meeting of the Council of our Society, held July 20th, 
the following resolutions were unanimously adopted: 



THE CHURCH IN CALIFORNIA. 169 



t: Whereas, his Grace the MostEev. Archbishop Aleinany has 
presided over our spiritual welfare generally for twenty-five 
years, and especially as a society for fifteen years: and Whereas, 
during all that time we have recognized him as a fitting and 
legitimate delegate of Apostolic authority and a living exemplar 
of the truths he taught: and Whkreas, amid all the vicissitudes 
of oar society he has ever shown himself a true friend and 
father, conferring innumerable favors, counseliu^, exhorting, 
advising: and Whereas, he has always been to us a tender and 
watchful shepherd, never withholding a helping hand in 
moments of doubt and danger: Therefore, be it 

Resolved, That we tender to him our hearfelt devotion as 
Catholic subjects, and our gratitude and love as members of St. 
Joseph's Benevolent Society: and Furthermore, be it 

Resolved, That in view of his long career of piety and use- 
fulness among us, from the early days when the flock was scat- 
tered and the labor arduous down to the present time, when the 
fold is denser though the care is not less severe, we rejoice in 
having an opportunity to congratulate him on the completion of 
twenty five-years of heroic exertion and success, and the posses- 
sion of the love of a zealous and devoted people; and to also ex- 
press our hope that his days may be far prolonged to continue 
the glorious work of his episcopal ministrations." 

Mr. James R. Kelly, on behalf of the Society, then 
presented his Grace with a ciborium of California 
silver. 

The President of St. Paul's Benevolent Associa- 
tion of St. Boniface's church delivered on the 
occasion an address to the Archbishop in the 
German language, thoroughly eulogistic of his Grace's 
career. 



170 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

MONTEREY AND LOS ANGELES. 

The present Bishop of Monterey and Los Angeles, 
the Eight Rev. Dr. Amat, of the Congregation of the 
Mission, was consecrated March 12, 1854. The con- 
secration of the Right Rev. Dr. Mora as Bishop of 
Mossynopolis, in partibus infidelium, and Coadjutor 
of Bishop Ainat, took place August 3, 1873. Like 
the Most Rev. Archbishop of San Francisco, both 
prelates are natives of Catalonia in Spain. 

The literary and religious institutions of the diocese, 
which comprises that portion of California that lies 
South of 37° 13' North latitude, and extends eastward 
to the Colorado River, are : St. Vincent's College, Los 
Angeles, under the Rev. Fathers of the Congregation 
of the Mission of St. Vincent de Paul. Very Rev. M._ 
Flynn, C. M., Superior. Number of boarders, fifty. 

Franciscan College of Santa Barbara, conducted by 
the Rev. Fathers of the Minor Order of St. Francis 
of Assisium ; Rev. Joseph Maria Romo, Guardian. 
Number of boarders, seventy. 

College of Our Lady of Guadalupe, at Santa Inez, 
conducted by the Franciscan Brothers. Brother Ber- 
nard, Director. Number of boarders, fifty. 

Charitable Institution of Los Angeles, directed by 
the Daughters of Charity. Sister Scholastica Loge- 
don, Sister-servant. Three hundred pupils, one hun- 
dred boarders. 

County Hospital of Los Angeles, conducted by the 
Daughters of Charity. 



THE CHURCH IN CALIFORNIA. 171 

St. Vincent's Institution of Santa Barbara, con- 
ducted by the Daughters of Charity. Sister Polycarp 
O'Driscol, Sister-servant. Average number of pupils, 
one hundred and fifty ; boarders, seventy. 

Academy of the Holy Cross, at Santa Cruz, directed 
by the Daughters of Charity. Sister Rosanna Smith, 
Sister-servant. One hundred and fifty pupils ; board- 
ers, forty. 

Male Orphan Asylum, at Pajaro Valley, near Wat- 
sonville, attached to the Church of the Immaculate 
Heart of Mary. Number of orphans, forty. 

Convent, Asylum and Academy, at San Juan Bau- 
tista, conducted by the Sisters of the Most Holy and 
Immaculate Heart of Mary. Five hundred pupils ; 
boarders, twenty. Sister Carmen Argelaga, Superior. 
This house is the novitiate of the same order. 

Convent and Academy of Mary Immaculate, for 
young ladies, at Gilroy, Santa Clara County, directed 
by the Sisters of the Most Holy and Immaculate 
Heart of Mary. Sister Mencia Martorano, Superior. 
Pupils, fifty. 

Academy of the Immaculate . Heart of Mary, for 
young ladies, at San Luis Obispo, conducted by the 
Sisters of the Most Holy and Immaculate Heart of 
Mary. Sister Raymunda Cremadell, Superior ; num- 
ber of pupils, seventy. 

The Catholic population of the diocese is about 
34,000, and the Catholic Indian population, some 
3,000; the Indian settlements Santa Isabel, Pala, 



172 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

Pauma and Temascal being regularly attended. There 
are thirty churches, three churches in ruins, eleven 
chapels, thirty-two stations, thirty-two secular priests 
in parishes, nine priests belonging to Religious Orders 
and six ecclesiastical students in colleges in Europe. 

GRASS VALLEY. 

The diocese of Grass Valley, erected by a Bull of 
his Holiness Pope Pius IX., on the 22d of March, 
18GS, comprises the part of California from 39° to 42° 
North latitude, and extends from the Pacific Ocean 
to the eastern boundary of the State of Nevada. The 
Right Rev. Dr. O'Connell, a native of Ireland, for- 
merly one of the directors of the Foreign Missionary 
College of All-Hallows, Drumcondra, at Dublin, in 
Ireland, and some time a missionary in the diocese of 
San Francisco, was consecrated February 3, 1861, 
Bishop of Flaviopolis", in partibus ivfidelium, and Vicar 
Apostolic of Marysville, and translated to Grass Val- 
ley, March 22, 18G8. The Catholic population num- 
bers some 14,000. There are twenty-five priests, 
thirty-five churches, five clerical students in All-Hal- 
lows College in Ireland, one clerical student in the 
Sulpician Seminary at Baltimore, in Maryland, seventy 
stations, and the subjoined religious, literary and 
charitable institutions : 

^Missionary Seminary of the Congregation of the 
Precious Blood of Christ, Rohnerville, Humboldt 
county. The object of this institution is to supply a 
sufficient number of priests for giving missions and 
retreats. Five priests, five ecclesiastical students, 



THE CHURCH IN CALIFORNIA. 173 

and three lay Brothers form the present community. 
Very Rev. Joseph Uphaus, Superior. 

St. Joseph's College, Rohnerville, Humboldt county. 
Under the direction of the priests of the Most Precious 
Blood, Rev. Joseph Alphons, C. PP. S., Superior. 

Convent of the Sisters of Mercy, at Grass Valley ; 
number of Sisters, fourteen ; Rev. Mother Mary Bap- 
tist, Superior. 

Convent of the Sisters of Charity, at Virginia City, 
Nevada. Number of Sisters, eleven ; Sister Vibiana, 
Superior. 

School for girls and small boys, conducted by the 
Sisters of Mercy, at Grass Valley. Number of scho- 
lars, two hundred. 

St. Mary's School, Virginia City, Nevada, conducted 
by the Sisters of Charity. Number of scholars, three 
hundred and sixty-eight. 

St. Joseph's Convent of Mercy, Eureka, Humboldt 
county, established June, 1871. * 

St. Joseph's Convent of Mercy, Yreka, Siskiyou 
county, established February, 1871. 

St. Patrick's Parochial School, Gold Hill, Nevada. 

Holy Angels' Female Orphan Asylum, under the 
care of the Sisters of Mercy. Number of orphans, 
sixty. There are in charge six professed Sisters and 
five novices. 

St. Patrick's Male Orphan Asylum, under the care 
of the Sisters of Mercy. Number of orphans, forty. 
There are three professed Sisters in charge. 



174 



OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 



Nevada Orphan Asylum, in Virginia City, Nevada, 
under the charge of the Sisters of Charity. Number 
of full orphans, one hundred ; half-orphans, sixty- 
eight. 

St. Mary's Day School, under the care of the Sisters 
of Charity. Number of day-scholars, two hundred. 
The community consists of eleven Sisters ; five young 
ladies assist as teachers. The buildings are so located 
that the orphans and day-pupils are graded together 
in class. The Sisters visit and help the sick poor. 
Number of sick visited, five hundred. 



From the time when, in 1840, the Eight Kev. Dr. 
Garcia Diego y Moreno, of the Order of St. Francis, 
was Bishop of Upper and Lower California — suffragan 
to the Metropolitan See of Mexico (in the adminis- 
tration of which that revered prelate was succeeded 
in 1846 by the Very Kev. Father Gonzalez, of the 
same Order, as Vicar-Capitular)— how marvelous has 
been the development of Catholic interests on the 
Pacific slope ! Truly, in the words of Mr. Lough- 
borough, ' ' the prosperity of the Church has kept pace 
with the rapid growth of this young and vigorous 
State." " A hundred years ago" exclaims, in eloquent 
language, Hon. J. W. Dwindle, "how feeble was 
the Catholic Church in the United States. To-day 
how strong she is — strongest among the strong. A 
hundred years ago. proscribed, her name a reproach ! 



THE CHURCH IN CALIFORNIA. 175 

to-day, proud in the consciousness of her strength, 
her children are free to ask for every thing — to receive 
it. They can be legislators, Governors, Senators 
and Judges; one of them was Chief Justice of the 
United States for twenty-five years. And the exam- 
ple of the forty million citizens of the United States 
has not been lost upon other peoples. Is it not true 
that where the English language is now spoken, the 
Catholic Church is practically free ? That, although 
there may be enactments against her on the statute 
books, they are in effect dead, and cannot be enforced ? 
Where is she stronger at this day than in the 
United States? Where are her foundations broader, 
deeper, more solid? Where are her hospitals, her 
convents, her colleges, her churches in a more flour- 
ishing condition ? And does this not demonstrate 
that her material strength lies in the law of voluntary 
contribution, and in those free political institutions 
which ' let her alone f " 

And, in view of the triumph of the Faith in the 
Eastern States, as well as in England, India and 
throughout the British Empire, the victory of the 
Catholic cause in California, despite intolerance 
and persecution in Mexico and South America, is 
a significant sign of the times, full of consolation and 

joy- 



The Pious Fund of California. 



APPENDED is a brief history of the Pious Fund 
(Fondo Piadozo de California), prepared by John 
T. Doyle, Esq., of the San Francisco bar, acting as 
the attorney-in-fact of his Grace the Most Reverend 
Archbishop Alemany and of the suffragan Bishops 
of the Province, against the Republic of Mexico, on 
behalf of the Catholic Church of the State of Cali- 
fornia, and all others beneficially interested in the 
Pious Fund of California. The Most Keverend and 
Right Reverend claimants demonstrate, in a Memorial, 
that " the Republic of Mexico is liable to the Catholic 
Church of California in a large sum of money, exceed- 
ing, according to the best information they can obtain, 
$1,700,000 in gold coin of the United States, for the 
portion belonging to said Church of California, of the 
interest which has accrued since the 2d of February, 
1848, on the capital of the Pious Fund of the Cali- 
fornias, which was incorporated into the National 
Treasury of the Republic of Mexico, by and in pur- 
suance of the decree of the Provisional President of 
said Republic, dated October 24th, 1842, and on 
which capital the said Republic of Mexico, by the 
same decree, undertook and promised to pay interest, 
at the rate of six per centum per annum, thence- 
forth." Mr. Doyle, in his lucid and admirably writ- 
ten historic resume, observes : 

'• From the time of the discovery of California in 1534 by the 
expedition fitted out by Cortez, the colonization of that country 



THE PIOUS FUND OF CALIFORNIA. 177 

and the conversion of its inhabitants to the Catholic faith was a 
cherished object with the Spanish Monarchs. Many expeditions 
for the purpose were set on foot, at the expense of the Crown, 
during the century and a half succeeding the discovery, but 
though attended with enormous expense, none of them were 
productive of the slightest good result. Down to the year 1697 
the Spanish Monarchs had failed to acquire any permanent foot- 
hold in the vast territory which they claimed under the name of 
California. 

"The success of the Jesuit Fathers in their Missions on the 
northwestern frontier of Mexico, and elsewhere, induced the 
Spanish Government as early as 1643 (on the occasion of fitting 
out an expedition for California under Admiral Pedro Portal de 
Casanata, ) to invite that Keligious Order to take charge of the 
spiritual ministration of it and the country for which it was 
destined, and they accepted the charge; but that expedition, like 
all its predecessors, failed. 

"The last expedition undertaken by the Crown was equipped 
in pursuance of a royal oedula of December 29, 1679. It was 
confided to the command of Admiral Isidro Otondo, and the 
spiritual administration of the country was again entrusted to 
the Jesuits, the celebrated Father Kino [ Kuhno] being appointed 
Cosmografo Mayor of the expedition. Various circumstances 
conspired to delay its departure, and it only sailed on the 18th 
of March, 1683. Many precautions had been taken to ensure its 
success, but after three years of ineffectual effort and an expenditure 
of over $225,000 it was also abandoned as a failure; and at a 
junta general, assembled in the City of Mexico under the auspices 
of the Viceroy, wherein the whole subject was carefully reviewed, 
it was determined that ' the reduction of California by the means 
theretofore relied on was a simple impossibility, ' and that the only 
mode of accomplishing it was to invite the Jesuits to undertake 
its whole charge, at the expense of the Crown. This proposition 
was made; but it would seem that the conduct of the royal officers, 
civil and military, must have contributed to the previous failures, 
and probably for that reason it was declined by the Society, 
although the services of its members as missionaries were always 
freely placed at the disposal of the Government. 



178 



OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 



" Individual members of the Society, however, animated by a 
zeal for the spread of the Christian faith in California, proposed to 
undertake the whole charge of the conversion of the country 
and its reduction to Christianity and civilization, and this with- 
out expense to the Crown, on condition that they might them- 
selves select the civil and military officers to be employed. This 
plan was finally agreed to, and on the 5th of February, 1697, the 
necessary authority was conferred on Fathers Juan Maria Sal- 
va Tierra and Francisco Eusebio Kino, [Kiihno] to undertake 
the reduction of California, on the express conditions, however: 
1st. That possession of the country was to be taken in the name 
of the Spanish Crown; and 2d. That the royal treasury was not 
to be called on for any of the expenses of the enterprise, without 
the express order of the King. 

"In anticipation of this result, Fathers Kino [Kiihno J andSalva 
Tierra had already solicited and received from various individuals 
and religious bodies, voluntary donations called Umoanas, or alms, 
contributed in aid of the enterprise. The funds thus collected 
were placed in their hands, in trust, to be applied to the propa- 
gation of the Catholic faith in California by preaching, 
the administration of the sacraments of the church, erection of 
church edifices, the founding of religious schools and the like— in 
a word, by the institution of Catholic Missions there under the 
system so successfully pursued by the Jesuits in Paraguay, 
Northern Mexico, Canada, India, and elsewhere. 

"The earliest contributions thus obtained will be found detailed 
in Venegas' ' Noticias de la California,' vol. 2, p. 12. Besides 
sums given to defray immediate expenses, it was determined to 
establish a fund, or capital, the income from which should form 
a permanent endowment for the Missionary Church. Towards 
this latter object the first recorded contributions seem to have 
been by the congregation of N. S. de los Dolores, which con- 
tributed $10,000, and Don Juan Caballero y Ozio, who gave 
$20,000 more. These donations formed the nucleus of the fund 
destined for the propagation of the Catholic faith in California. 
It was increased from time to time by others, and in a compara- 
tively few years attained magnitude and importance. It was 



THE PIOUS FUND OP CALIFORNIA. 179 

invested and administered by the Jesuits in pursuance of the 
trust on which it was confided to them, and its income was the 
source from which was defrayed the annual expense attending 
the Missions in California. In time it acquired by common 
acceptance the name of ' The Pious Fund of the Calil'ornias.' 
"Among the most important contributions to the fund was 
one by the Marquis de Villa Fuente and his wife, who, in 1735, 
in addition to large previous donations, conveyed to the Society 
of Jesus, by deed of gift, inter vivos, estates and property of great 
value and productiveness. 

"During the seventy years that the Jesuits pursued the spirit- " 
ual conquest of California, they gradually extended their Missions 
from Cape San Lucas up the peninsula, to the northward; and 
at the period of their expulsion they had established those of 
San Jose del Cabo, Santiago de las Coras, Todos Santos, Fran- 
cisco Xavier, Nuestra Senora de Loreto, San Jose Comandii, La 
Purisima de Cadegomo, Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe, Santa 
Kosalia de Moleje, San Ignacio, Santa Gertrudes, San Francisco 
de Borja, Santa Maria deLos Angeles, and these, with that of San 
Fernando de Villacata, founded by the Franciscans in May, 1769, 
were all the Missions of Lower California. 

" At this time the interior of Upper California was unexnlored, 
and its eastern and northern boundaries uncertain. The outline 
of the coast had been mapped with more or less accuracy by 
naval exploring expeditions fitted out by the Crown, and by the 
commanders or pilots of the Phillipine galleons, which, on their 
return voyages to Acapulco, took a wide sweep to the north, and 
sighted the leading headlands from as far north as the ' Cabo- 
blanco de San Sebastian,' down to Cape San Lucas. The 
whole coast, as far north as Spain claimed, was called by the 
name of California. The terms Upper and Lower California, 
only came into use after the division and distribution of the 
Missions between the Dominicans and Franciscans, hereafter 
noted. 

" The Pious Fund continued to be managed by the Jesuits, and 
its income applied in conformity to the will of its founders, and 
the Missions of California remained under their charge down to 



180 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

1768, in which year they were expelled from Mexico in pursu- 
ance of (he order of the Crown, or pragmatic sanction of Feb- 
ruary 27, 1767. Their missions in California were directed by 
the Viceroy to be placed in the charge of the Franciscan Order. 
Subsequently a royal cedula of April 8, 1770, was issued, direct- 
ing that one-half of these Missions should be confided to the 
Dominican Friars; in pursuance of which, and a ' concordato ' 
of April 7, 1772, between the authorities of the two Orders, 
sanctioned by the Viceroy, the Missions of Lower California, 
and the whole spiritual charge of that peninsula, were confided 
to the Dominicans and those of Upper California to the Fran- 
ciscans. The income and product of the Pious Fund was there- 
after appropriated to the Missions of both Orders. 

" The Church when first established in Upper California, was 
purely missionary in its character. Its foundation dates from 
the year 1739; in July of which year Father Junfpero Serra, a 
Franciscan friar, and his companions, reached the port of San 
Diego, overland, from the frontier Mission of Lower California, 
and there founded the first Christian Mission and first settle- 
ment of civilized men, within the territory now comprised in the 
State of California. Their object was to convert to Christianity 
and civilize the wretched native inhabitants, sunk in the lowest 
depths of ignorance and barbarism. In pursuit of this object, 
they exposed themselves to all the perils and privations of a 
journey of forty-five days across an unexplored wilderness, and 
a residence remote from all the conveniences and necessaries of 
civilized life, in the midst of a hostile and barbarous population 
who requited the charity of the Christian missionary with the 
crown of Christian martyrdom . Father Junipero and his followers 
established Missions among these barbarous people, from San 
Diego as far north as Sonoma, at each of which the neighboring 
tribes of Indians were assembled and instructed in the truths 
of the Christian religion and the rudiments of the arts of civilized 
life. The Missions of Upper California, and the dates of their 
foundation, were as follows : 

" San Diego, 1769; El Carmelo, 1770; San Fernando, 1771; San 
Gabriel, 1771; San Antonio, 1771; San Luis Obispo, 1772; San 



THE PIOUS FUND OF CALIFOENIA. 181 

Francisco de Asis, 1776; San Juan Capistrano, 1776; Santa Clara, 
1777; San Buenaventura, 1782; Santa Barbara, 1786; La Puri- 
sima, 1787; Santa Cruz, 1791; La Soledad, 1791; San Miguel, 
1797; San Juan Bautista, 1797; San Jose, 1797; San Luis Bey, 
1798; Santa Ynes, 1802; San Bafael, 1817; San Francisco Solano, 
1823. 

" The Missions were designed, when the population should be 
sufficiently instructed, to be converted into parish churches, and 
maintained as such, as had already been done in other parts of 
the viceroy alty of New Spain; but in the meantime, and while 
their missionary character continued, they were under the eccle- 
siastical government of a President of the Missions. Father 
Serra was the first who occupied this office, and the Missions 
were governed and directed by him and his successors as such, 
down to the year 1836, when this officer was superseded in his 
authority by the appointment of a bishop and the erection of 
the Californias into an episcopate or diocese. 

"Francisco Garcia Diego, the last President of these Missions, 
was also the first bishop of the new diocese . 

"The text of the decree or pragmatic sanction expelling the 
Jesuits from the Spanish dominions, is very brief. The only pro- 
vision on the subject of property contained in it is in the words: 
l y que se ocupen todas las temporalidades de \a compania en mis 
dominios.' Under this provision, the Crown took all the estates 
of the Order into its possession, including those of the ' Pious 
Fund, ' but these latter constituting a trust estate, were of course 
taken cum onere, and charged with the trust. This was fully 
recognized by the Crown, and the properties of the ' Pious 
Fund, ' so held in trust, were thereafter managed in its name by 
officers appointed for the purpose, called a' ' junta directiva.' 
The income and product continued to be devoted, through the 
instrumentality of the Ecclesiastical authorities, to the religious 
uses for which they were dedicated by the donors. 

" On the declaration of Mexican Independence, Mexico suc- 
ceeded to the Crown of Spain as trustee of the ' Pious Fund, ' 
and it continued to be managed, and its income applied as before, 
down to September 19, 1836, when the condition of the Church 



182 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

and of the missionary establishments in California seemed to 
render desirable the erection of the country into a diocese or 
bishopric, and the selection of a bishop for its government. The 
Catholic religion being the established religion of Mexico, and 
it being a known rule of the Holy See not to consent to the erec- 
tion of new bishoprics in countries acknowledging the Catholic 
faith, without an endowment from some source adequate to the 
decent support of the bishopric, the law of the Mexican Congress 
of September 19, 183G, was passed, which attached an endow- 
ment of $G,000 per year to the mitre to be founded, and conceded 
to the incumbent, when selected, the administration and disposal 
of the 'Pious Fund.' As it formed the support of the church 
in his diocese, and the missionaries and their flocks were all his 
spiritual subjects, and his only ones, this, under the canon law, 
was a natural result, and its expression merely serves to mark 
clearly the recognized destination of the fund. 

"In pursuance of the invitation held out in this enactment, 
the two Calit'ornias, Upper and Lower, were erected by his Holi- 
ness Pope Gregory XVI. into an episcopal diocese, and Francisco 
Garcia Diego, who had until that time been President of the 
Missions of Upper California, was made bishop of the newly 
constituted See ; as such he became entitled to the administra- 
tion, management and investment of the ' Piou,s Fund ' as 
trustee, as well as to the application of its income and proceeds 
to the purposes of its foundation, and for the benefit of his flock^ 

" On February 8th, 1842, so much of the law of September 
19, 1836, as confided the management, investment, etc., of the 
fund to the bishop, was abrogated by a decree of Santa Anna, then 
Provisional President of the Eepublic, and the trust was again 
devolved on the State ; but that decree did not purport in any way 
to impugn, impair or alter the rights of the cesluis que trust • on the 
contrary, it merely devolved on certain government officers the 
investment and management of the property belonging to the 
Fund, for the purpose of carrying out the trust established by its 
donors and fouuders. 

" On October 24th, 1842, another decree was made by the same 
Provisional President, reciting the inconvenience and unneces- 



THE PIOUS FUND OF CALIFORNIA. 183 

sary expense attending the management of the various properties 
belonging to the ' Pious Fund, ' through the medium of public 
officers, and thereupon directing that the property belonging to 
it should be sold for the sum represented by its income, (capi- 
talized on the basis of six per cent, per annum), that the pro- 
ceeds of the sale as well as the cash investments of the fund 
should be paid into the public treasury, and recognized an obli- 
gation on the part of the Government to pay six per cent, per 
annum on the capital thereof thenceforth. 

"In none of these acts, as will be perceived from their lan- 
guage, was there any attempt to destroy or confiscate the prop- 
erty orimpair the trust or the rights of the ultimate beneficiaries. 
On the contrary, the object was distinctly expressed to be more 
completely and economically to carry out the benevolent inten- 
tions of the founders and donors. 

" The property of the ' Pious Fund ' at the time of that decree 
of October 24th, 1842, consisted of real estate, urban and rural, 
demands on the public treasury for loans theretofore made to the 
State; moneys invested on mortgage and other security, and the 
like. A list of these several items, so far as known to the claim- 
ants, will be herewith filed as an exhibit. The greater part of 
the property was sold in pursuance of the last-mentioned decree 
for a sum of about two millions of dollars of* Mexican money, 
being the equivalent of that sum in gold coin of the United 
States; the names of the purchasers are not known to the claim- 
ants, but are stated by Mr. Duflot de Mofras in his 'Exploration 
du Territoire de V Oregon et des Californies,' etc., to have been the 
house of Baraio and Messrs. Kubio Brothers. In the above men- 
tioned sale of the properties of the 'Pious Fund,' the demands 
existing in its favor on the public treasury for loans to the Gov- 
ernment were not included ; the items of the capital of those 
loans due at the time, so far as they are known to the claimants, 
will be set forth in the said exhibit. Some of tbese had preceded 
the severance of Mexico from the dominions of Spain, but being 
debts of the viceroyalty of New Spain, were assumed and recog- 
nized as debts of the Mexican Kepublic, as well by the law of 
June 28th, 1824, as by Article VII. of the Treaty of December 28, 
1836, between Mexico and Spain. 



184 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

" The interest on this capital must, therefore, be added to that 
on the proceeds of the sale, in ascertaining the arrears of interest 
due by Mexico to the ' Pious Fund.' 

'• Whether money debts due by individuals and private corpo- 
rations to the 'Pious Fund,' (investments on mortgage and the 
like), were included in the aforesaid sale, or in the sum of two 
millions of dollars above given as its proceeds, the claimants do 
not certainly know, but are informed and believe, and therefore 
charge that they were not, but that those sums were collected by 
the Mexican Government, they are stated so far as known to the 
claimants, in said exhibit. The interest on these sums should 
also be added in ascertaining the arrears of interest now due said 
fund ; all the sums of money mentioned in said exhibit are in 
Mexican money, and equivalent to the like sums in gold coin of 
the United States. 

' ' The Bishop of California remonstrated earnestly against the 
decree of October 24th, 1842, as a violation of his rights and of 
the terms of the above law of 1836, those terms were a funda- 
mental condition on which the Holy See had consented to the 
erection of the bishopric, and therefore had the sacredness of a 
contract ; and on the 3d of April, 1845, the General Congress 
passed the Act of that date, restoring to him and his successors, 
for the purposes of the trust, the properties of the fund yet 
remaining unsold." 

The claim was presented to the Mexican and Ameri- 
can Joint Commission at Washington, in the name of 
the Archbishop and Bishops of the Church of Cali- 
fornia, representing their flocks, and after considerable 
litigation, wherein the argument on behalf of the 
Republic of Mexico was conducted by Hon. Caleb 
Gushing, subsequently Minister of the United States 
at the Court of Spain, and Don Manuel Aspiroz, a 
distinguished Mexican jurisconsult, and lately Con- 
sular representative of the Sister Republic in San 



THE PIOUS FUND OF CALIFORNIA. 185 

Francisco, and by Mr. Doyle on behalf of the claimants, 
his Excellency Sir Edward Thornton, G. C. B., her 
Britannic Majesty's Envoy Extraordinary and Minister 
Plenipotentiary to the United States, rendered his 
decision, giving to the Church of California a judg- 
ment against Mexico for over $900,000. The Com- 
missioners, we are informed, " differed in their judg- 
ment, the Mexican Commissioner, Senor de Tamacona, 
holding that the California Missions were mere poli- 
tical establishments, and the funds provided for their 
support, no matter whence derived, were merely public 
funds; while Mr. Wadsw^orth, the American Commis- 
sioner, held the Pious Fund to be a charity of private 
foundation, and a sacred deposit in the hands of 
Mexico, which she had no power (and, indeed, had 
never claimed) to divert to other purposes." "By 
this *difference of opinion," to use the language of a 
leading non-Catholic journal in this city, "the case 
of the claimants was practically w T on, for it could not 
be supposed that an English publicist of the high 
character and position of Sir Edward Thornton, could, 
by a judicial decision, sanction a spoliation of property 
devoted by its owners to works of piety and charity. " 




APPENDIX 



Illustrative Notes. 



The Laguna [Pond] of Doloees. 

On page 25 of this volume is the statement : " General 
Vallejo gives his own, and the authority of the people of ninety 
years ago, that there used to be a pond, or " small lake," in the 
Sans Souci Valley, north of the Mission Dolores, and immediately 
behind the hill on which the Protestant Orphan Asylum now 
stands. It was the common opinion, according to the General, 
that this was where the expedition halted." 

In declining to accept the conclusion of my friend, General 
Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, permit me to remark that I have re- 
sided here a long time; that neither of us was here in the year 
1776, when the Mission was founded; and that I have had ample 
opportunity to consult the recollection of old people resident 
here, who received the "traditions of the elders" respecting 
the early history of San Francisco. The testimony pertinent 
to that matter is of two kinds— documentary and verbal. Of 
the documentary : 

Fiest. — The statement of Father Francisco Palou, one of the 
two Franciscan Friars who founded the Mission of Dolores, 
that on the 27th of June the expedition arrived in the vicinity, 
and the commander ordered a halt on the margin of a lake 
(laguna) which Senor Anza named after our Lady of D&lores, 
" Nuestra Senora de Los Dolores" — (the Matee Doloeosa of the 
Roman Catholic Church) — which is in sight of the creek of the 
Weeping Willows and of the shore of the inlet or arm of that 
sea which trends to the southeast : " Que esta a, la vista de la 
ensanada de los Lloronas y playa del estero d brazo del mar que 



188 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

corre alsudeste." (See Palou's Noticiasde la Nueva California, 
vol. iv., page 166.) These "Lloronas" (weeping willows) 
were, of course, not nourished by salt water, which would have 
killed tbeni, but were on the stream of fresh water issuing from 
the ravine lying to the northwest of the Mission church, which 
supplied the Mission itself and its rancherias with water; and 
after crossing what are now Valencia, Guerrero, Howard and 
Folsom streets, emptied into Mission Creek at right angles, at a 
point about 550 feet easterly from the southeast corner of Folsom 
and Fourteenth streets; and which, in its whole course, from 
Mission to Folsom streets, was fringed with "weeping wil- 
lows," and in full view of the laguna, or pond, which I have 
designated the Laguna de los Dolores, even as late as the year 1855. 
The shore of Mission Creek— the arm of that sea which trends 
to the southeast, the Bay of San Francisco — is also visible from 
the place which I have designated as the Laguna or Pond of 
Dolores. Neither of these objects are in sight of the locality 
in the Sans Souci, where the occasional lake mentioned by 
General Vallejo existed, but the view of all of them has been, 
from time immemorial, intercepted by high, intervening hills. 

Secondly. — The further statement of the same author, that on 
the same day and year the expedition encamped on the border 
of a large pond which empties into that arm of the sea of the 
port which trends fifteen leagues to the southeast : "Una grande 
laguna que vacia en el brazo de mar del Puerto que interna 
quince leguasal sudeste." (Life of Junipero Serra, chapter xlv.) 

Thirdly. — That when the site of the Mission was selected, it 
was in the vicinity of that pond, and on the plain lying west of 
it: "En este mismo sitio de la Laguna, en el plan 6 llano que 
tiene al Poniente." (Palou's Life of Junipero Serra, chapter 
xlv.) 

Fourthly. — The fact that when the French Admiral, La Perouse, 
touched at Monterey, in September 1788, he dispatched some of 
his officers to the Port of San Francisco, who made a chart of 
that Bay, which was sent to France, and published with the 
account of his explorations up to that point, and is thus pre- 
served to us. On this chart, No. 33 of the series of the maps of 



APPENDIX. 189 

that expedition, (from which a zincographic copy of the 
Bay of San Franoisco is reproduced of the original size on the 
opposite page.) although it is not hydrographically accurate in 
respect of mathematical proportions and distances, as, of course, 
it could not be, without an actual survey; yet the general lines 
of the coast and of the Bay, and the relative positions of the 
prominent physical objects, are laid down with a wonderful 
approximation to correctness. "La Laguna de los Dolores" [I] 
is laid down precisely where the " Willows" were situated, with 
an outlet into that portion of the Bay of Sin Francisco " which 
trends towards the southeast," answering precisely to the 
description given by Palou. It is ten times as large as "Washer- 
woman's Lagoon;" [G] which is called " Pequena Laguna" — 
little poud — and is five times as large as Mountain Lake [C] 
" La Laguna del Presidio" — Presidio Pond. It is curious and 
interesting to observe that, while Alcatraz [J] and Angel Island 
[K] have their respective modern designations, Yerba Bueua 
Island [M] is called, "La Isla del Carmel" — Carmel Island; 
Fort Point [D] " La Punta del Angel de la Guarda" — the 
Point of the Guardian Angel; Point Lobos is not named, although 
it and its Seal Rocks are laid down; and the "Laguna de la 
Merced" [B] is represented as having a free, open communi- 
cation with the ocean. 

The Presidio [F] and also the Mission [H] are designated 
on the plan. Thus, in the year 1786, and only ten years after 
the Mission of Dolores was founded, a corps of French naval 
officers, coming to San Francisco with instructions to make a 
map of the localities here, do make one, which, on its face, 
bears testimony to its general correctness, and on which a 
laguna or pond, called the Laguna of Dolores, is laid down, and 
also the Mission of Dolores, precisely where Palou says it was, 
"to the west of the said Laguna, and on the same plain." 

Thus far with the documentary testimony. 

Now, as to the verbal testimony. Some twelve years ago I had 
an interview with a well-known lady, then resident at the Mission 
of Dolores, Dona Carmen Sibrian de Bernal. She was born of 
Spanish lineage, in Monterey, California, in the year 1804; was 



190 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

married at San Jose in 1821, to Jose* Cornelio Bernal, a resident 
of the Mission of Dolores, and they came there to reside in 
the same year. She was a woman of great vivacity, and 
stated to me that the tradition given to her by the old residents 
of the Mission was, that when the Missionary Fathers came here 
to establish the Mission, they encamped at a pond which existed 
where the place of resort, called the "Willows," was at the 
time of this interview, to which a great tide creek formerly made 
up from the Bay : " En donde son ahora los Saucelitos, en donde 
habia en eso tiempo un estero grande de la Bahia." I also, 
at that time, visited the site of the " Willows," and found that 
although the soil had been greatly filled in during my own 
recollection by the deposits of silt and of vegetable accretions, 
the fresh water was still flowing out towards the Bay; and I could 
not find any tree there which appeared to be more than forty years 
old. The "estero," or tide creek still made up nearly to "the 
Willows," but I then thought that it must soon be obliterated by 
the progress of public improvements. 

Since the date of that interview the tract embracing "the 
Willows," and included within Seventeenth, Nineteenth, Valencia 
and Howard streets, has been graded and filled in; but from the 
sewers which drain it there still flows a constant stream of clear 
fresh water, showing that the Laguna was fed by living springs. 

The laguna or pond which General Vallejo mentions was in a 
shallow, natural basin, in a sandy soil. It was only an occasional 
body of water, not fed by springs, but wholly by the winter 
rains, and dried up early in the summer. It was situated on the 
old road leading from the Mission to the Presidio, and lay to 
the southwest of the old place of resort, called Sans Souci. It 
was only a shallow, spoon-shaped hollow, receiving in ordinary 
seasons not rains enough to overflow its borders, but only 
sufficient to raise a thin crop of canutales, or reeds, which, as the 
water dried up, were supplanted by a growth of native grasses. 
This body of water, from the time when I arrived in San Fran- 
cisco, in October, 1849, to the present date, never attained any 
historical dimensions until the memorable rainy winter of 
1861-62. Then the seven windows of the heavens were opened, 



APPENDIX. 191 

and this hollow in the sandy plain was not only filled up, "but 
overflowed. The narrow lip of sand which formed its easterly 
boundary is cut through, either by natural or artificial means ; 
a thin stream thus finds an outlet — " Vires acquirei eun&o" — 
becomes a vast torrent, sweeping to the Bay; bears havoc and 
destruction in its front, and leaves innumerable beneficent 
lawsuits in its rear. But that this accidental and occasional 
Laguna, such as it was, situated at the northwest of the Mission 
of Dolores, with intervening ranges of broken hills and valleys, 
was the Laguna situate to the east of the Mission, on the same 
plain, let those believe who can. My opinion is that the 
"Willows" and the Pond or Laguna of Dolores, were one 
and the same. 



Sir Feancis Drake's Bat. 

In my address, at page 81, of this volume, speaking of the 
condition of California at a period not far remote, I said: 

" One hundred and seven years ago, in the year 1769, California 
was a desert wilderness. Its coasts had been explored by Span- 
ish navigators, who had given names to its prominent points, 
but throughout its vast territory, more than 800 miles in extent 
from south to north, there was no cabin or tent of the white 
man, no vestige of his presence, no physical trace of his exist- 
ence . The bay of San Francisco, the most marked and marvel- 
lous feature in the northwestern line of the continent, had not 
been discovered. A delusive cloud generally brooded over the 
entrance of the Golden Gate, like the magic mist obscuring the 
entrance to the treasures of an oriental fable. Even Sir Francis 
Drake, who, in the year 1578, after having committed piratical 
plunder upon the Spanish galleons bearing the treasures of the 
kings of Spain from Manilla to Acapulco, fled to the north, hoping 
to escape the vengeance of his pursuers by finding and navigating 
a northeast passage to the Atlantic Ocean, sailed ignorantly 
across the vast volume of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers 
discharging themselves into the ocean athwart the very keel of 



192 OUR CENTENNIAL MEMOIR. 

his caravel, and whose existence, if known to him, would have 
suggested to him that he had found the overland water passage 
of which he was in search." 

I said this purposely, as a deliberate protest against the notion 
that Sir Francis Drake ever entered the Bay of San Francisco. 
I have thoroughly examined, collated, indexed and digested all 
the historical evidences which exist relating to that subject 
matter, and I am satisfied that they do not show that Sir Francis 
Drake ever visited or even heard of the Bay of San Francisco. 
This Centennial celebration was a proper occasion for the protest; 
and I regret that a discussion of the question which I am pre- 
paring cannot be published with this note. It may very prob- 
ably appear in a subsequent edition of this book. 

John "W. Dwinelle. 




